Pokémon: The Lousy Reality
by LILMISSS
Summary: In the Pokémon shows, Ash leaves home at the age of ten, doesn't attend school and doesn't require any money. You know what? All that are lies. Here's a story if Pokémon truly existed in our world - the lousy reality. ALL OCs.
1. Charis' POV

In the Pokémon shows, Ash leaves home at the age of ten, doesn't attend school and doesn't require any money. You know what? All that are _lies_. Trust me, if such a guy existed, the Pokémon rangers would've sent out a bunch of lowly policemen to get that guy's butt back into school. He'd be considered a drop-out and he wouldn't have a Pikachu to begin with; he wouldn't even have a Charmander, Bulbasaur or Squirtle if he were early, unless he stole it. He'd probably start off with a Rattata or something.

Hi. I'm Charis. I'm 16 this year, and I'm attending the Lanseal Pokémon Academy. I really wanted to be a Pokémon trainer at 10, but in Singapore, the government makes sure every kid gets a proper education before you leave. Not everyone gets to be an official Pokémon trainer, of course, because those people have to be _really _good with their studies. And Pokémon, of course. Geez, if trainer licenses were so freely given, there'd be fights on the streets just because you looked at another dude. It'd be like a World War!

So I have to study until I'm 18 or 19, depending on where I'm planning to study, because by the end of this year, I would be finishing my Ordinary Levels and that would mark my graduation.

Anyway, I woke up with my Charmeleon snoring on my bed and my Skitty already trying to catch his fiery tail. I got Charmeleon when he was a wee little Charmander when I was 7; I was really lucky. I named him Firaga, after the Kingdom Hearts attack. My primary school supplied us with our first starter Pokémon. In Lanseal Pokémon Academy, I got another starter Pokémon, but instead of choosing, we went through some personality test and I got a Skitty. Of all Pokémon. I mean, yeah I was pretty disappointed, because I didn't like pink, but if there's one thing I _had _to learn at school, it's probably this – Pokémon are friends; trust them and love them. So I did just that and she's as tough as ever. I named her Skittles, after the sweets.

At least, I hope so. At my Ordinary Levels this year, I would have to fight a standard Pokémon battle, do some contest thing and then take all my written papers. Obviously, I'm hoping that Firaga will evolve to a Charizard by then, but then again, I will have to remind you that this isn't a Pokémon game where you can spam battling Pokémon or fighting the Elite Four. It's way worse. The Elite Four are on a world tour, and they came here thrice already. And besides, scientists haven't found an exact pattern as to how Pokémon evolve. It's not like we can scan what level they are. In fact, it has been scientifically proven that Pokémon do not have levels at all; they simply evolve when they're tough enough. As to how tough, no one knows. Another of the world's unsolved mysteries, like how did that Skarmory break a hole in the ozone?

Anyway, since it's the weekends, I get to go out and have some fun. I was due to meet Barzini today at some shopping mall; he had a coupon for free fries at Mcdonalds, and I'm not going to let up _that _offer.

"Char!" Firaga chirped because fries are his favourite. I remembered the time when he shed some scales on my fries and my sensitive lips became swollen because I'm allergic to anything spicy. And raw Charmeleon scales are spicy.

Skittles started to jump around and I started to panic. If my mum were to hear the racket she's making, I'll have to put Skittles in a leash, or worse, her Pokéball. I hate that stupid contraption. Again, it's not as easy as throwing it and poof!, your Pokémon appears. No, it's not like that. I'm still not entirely sure of the mechanics but if mum were to find out about this she's gonna make me study the Pokéball again. It's something about Physics, but I'm not sure what. I'm supposed to learn it by my O levels, so eventually I'll know.

"Skittles!" I exclaimed, and my ball of pink hit me in the stomach. Firaga rolled his eyes and walked off. It's like he was already in his teenage years; trying to act all emo and cool even though he's not.

* * *

Horrible, horrible day. While I was heading out, a bunch of college students got me wet because they were flying, and purposely made their Altaria splash mud into my face. Firaga was so pissed off he tried to burn them, but in the end he burnt our neighbour, who usually gave Firaga and Skittles cookies. Guess who would have less cookies to glomp on now?

"I am so sorry!" I cried out, and then Skittles, in her complete randomness, started to lick mud off my leg.

"It's okay, girl, just run along, yah?" he mumbled, as he released his Machoke to massage his back, thumping it lightly. My mum wanted me to take a Machop, or a Hitmontop, just for such a purpose.

"Oh, uh, okay, really sorry!" I yelled out, and then I started to cycle away, Firaga at the back seat and Skittles in my basket. We enjoyed the fresh breeze and the smell of Hoppips floating along in the breeze. It's the season of Hoppips; because Singapore is so freakishly hot and humid all year round, any time can be the season of Hoppips, because they love the weather here. Skiplooms and Jumpluffs are rare, but they can be sighted…if you're lucky enough.

I watched a few Charizards, a Dragonite, quite a few Fearows and Pidgeots pass by me, with families on top on their way to breakfast. Firaga grunted; he was utterly jealous by a Charizard's grace.

Bicycles were a lousy mode of transport. Most people just catch a flying Pokémon which makes things easier. In fact, my mum's friend has a few Pidgeottos that could fly her anywhere she wanted, and they helped to dry the laundry and chase away any pests like Rattatas and Pichus who want some grub.

I bought newspapers from a newspaper vendor, with a Loudred trying to promote his trainer's store, and then started to look through the news. The Fantina Scandal was the latest news to hit; apparently she took more money than required from losing trainers to pamper her Gengar, which is freaky. Also, there has been talk about a band of Pikachus and Pichus who sneak into restaurants and eat off good food. Pokémon Rangers have been deployed to patrol around the finest dining places, but so far their search has been futile.

Finally, I reached the shopping centre. I always got lost in Orchard Road; but at least I made it. The three of us walked into the shopping centre, and I started looking for a Mcdonalds.

Barzini is one of my best friends, and we're in the same after-school activity – we joined a photography, videography and publishing club, which we call AV Media Club, or in short, AVMC. He's a year younger than me but still.

Since we're all Singaporeans, we don't have whacky hair like Ash Ketchum or Misty; the teachers would never believe that its natural, and in fact, Lanseal Pokémon Academy hires a barber with a Scyther who cuts off any hair that grows like Ash's. Nearly everyone's hair is dark brown or black, but I'm planning to dye my hair with some fancy shampoo made out of Rapidash hair to make it slightly browner.

He's much taller than me, a fact that I don't want him to remember or even bring up. His Dratini, Silvan is coiled around his shoulder, looking around curiously (I bet its happy to be at that height) and Noldor, his Bagon, stuffing some fries into his mouth.

"Getting more fries?" I asked, and then I looked at Firaga, who gave a sheepish grin. "Firaga is gonna finish one entire large fries by himself."

"Yeah, okay, there's promotion in Macs anyway…" he mumbled, and he took out those little pieces of paper that would grant us a few small fries. I remembered that I had one in my wallet, so I took it out and we went to redeem our fries.

"So, how's Year 3 life? Stressful, eh?" I asked him. I was in Year 4, and in Year 3, the teachers would start to drill you on the topic covered in O level. It's crazy; but you have Pokémon battles and Pokémon Mini Contests within the class almost everyday, because last year for Pokémon battles the students had to fight a two-on-two Pokémon battle with two Pokémon of a type advantage over your own Pokémon. I figured that if Firaga could evolve, they may pick an Electric Pokémon and a Fighting Pokémon, which makes everything easy once I teach him Earthquake and once I teach Skittles how to dodge attacks. Skittles was my distractor; she was fast and she could dodge if she didn't get distracted herself, while Firaga was my main powerhouse. As for Contests…Skittles is in the spotlight.

"Yeah…stupid homework. I hate Additional Maths. And Social Studies (SS)." All our written papers were the same, except I take Biology.

"It's fun! I mean, not SS, but…Amaths is okay! I like binomial theorem!" I replied in response. It's true. If there's one thing that stays predictable, its both of my maths. Amaths for Additional Math, and Emaths for Elementary Maths. It's possibly the most straightforward of my subjects.

"_Aiya_, it's horrible. Stupid teacher…"

"Wait til you're me. Then you'll cry."

Silvan the Dratini flinched and cowered behind Barzini's head. Noldor the Bagon simply growled.

Firaga was trying to tell the younger Bagon, dragon-to-sort-of-dragon, about the horrors of being my Pokémon. Skittles was in my arms, trying to reach for the terrified Dratini.

"O-kay…I don't want to know what is binomial theorem, or about O levels next year for me."

And with that, we got our fries and began eating.

* * *

"Can you believe it? I just saw a Manectric with _shoes_ on the way here…" Barzini said, taking a bite of his fries. "I bet they're expensive; Manectric don't have very big feet; must be tailored…"

I rolled my eyes. "I've seen my brother's Chimchar wear his shirt and slippers. Crazy boy."

"Well, did the Chimchar _want _to wear it?"

"I don't exactly know. Don't ask me, because I was trying to teach Skittles to twirl around with _control_."

In response, my Skitty exclaimed, "Nya!"

"My mum's Medicham was around though; I think she scolded Chimchar and started to iron out all the wrinkles in the shirt."

Medicham was my mum's Pokémon, and while my mum handled taking care of us, Medicham took care of house chores and stuff. My mum handled the techonology (washing machine and stuff) and Medicham would simply collect the laundry, mop the floor…the list was endless.

She also has a Staraptor who flies her about to get groceries. Since he's smaller than most flying Pokémon, he only carries one person at a time. He also helps to blow dry the laundry and blows away rain from clothes just in case.

Both Staraptor and Medicham used to be tough Pokémon, since my mum attended an elite Pokémon Academy, but now they're stuck doing chores. For some reason, they don't seem to mind too much; they can retire happily next time with my mum anyway.

"Anyway, have to go home now," Barzini stood up, picking up his bag. The Bagon patted his stomach contentedly and nodded towards Firaga. "Have to study…there's a chemistry test tomorrow."

"Yeah, I have to go home and well, study." I mumbled. Then I thought of this brilliant idea. "Buuuuut I can tell my mum we're going over to the field area to train!"

Barzini grinned and nodded. Of course. No one would want to sit through a bunch of assessment books and questions that are designed to kill your brain cells. Unless you know how to do them. When that happens, math questions are fun.

Yes, I admit, I am grade-crazy in school. I'm possibly one of the biggest nerds in my class, and my class are full of nerds; the top class. Well, actually, not really nerds, just fun people who, like me, study to get a good job. Like becoming a Pokémon Researcher. Or a doctor (both human or Pokémon), or something good and non-artistic.

I'm sort of aiming to be a journalist, or an author, but of course like everyone I want to be a Pokémon trainer. Hey, travelling the world and earning money by owning them is totally fun. It's like becoming rich – everyone wants to do that, but it's gonna be tough, and some people can do it in a snap.

I cycled out onto the roads, Barzini right behind me and was nearly bulldozed by a Tropius. "HEY! Watch it, you little punk!"

"Sorry, sorry!" I yelled back to the man riding the Tropius. The Pokémon snorted at me, and then Firaga threw a Flamethrower at the Fruit Pokémon, who nimbly dodged it. The Flamthrower hit an Altaria, but the Altaria was strong enough to leave the area without a scratch or bruise in sight.

"Sorry!" I yelled out again. Tropius gave us both a tired glance, as though we weren't enough of a fight, and this time Firaga leapt up for a Slash. Why couldn't that Charmeleon be _this _pumped up during Pokémon battling?

This time it hit the Tropius square in the face. He growled and released a freakin' Solarbeam. Now, usually, you'd have to charge up with light energy, but since it's sunny, sunny Singapore, you don't need to do it. Just fire away.

Which is exactly what happened, as Firaga was blasted off…into Skittles and myself.

"ARGH!" I yelled out, and the man bade us farewell. I could've sworn the Tropius laughed. I bet we made him really happy, since we lost like that. But thank goodness it was an unofficial battle; I'd have to pay for it, and I brought enough money to buy meals for three (which happens to be a lot) I'm not exactly willing to fork over half of it.

"Wow, I feel honoured today. I eat fries and then watch you get owned by a Tropius…THIS IS AWESOME!" Barzini exclaimed, and he laughed as he pedaled off.

Firaga, not wanting to lose a challenge, propped up my bike and eagerly barked for me to get on. "Okay, okay, I'll go!" I replied quickly. Skittles jumped into the basket and we set off behind Barzini.

* * *

I caught up with Barzini, who was being verbally abused by two other teenagers our age.

"Come on, battle, man!" one of them yelled out, and released his Heracross, who tried to intimidate him.

Barzini frantically looked around, and when he saw me, he ran towards me. "Can we fight, please?"

The other person, a girl with a pigtail bobbing about, sent out her vicious Mareep, who started to chase after Noldor, the Bagon crying out in pain as he was chased and electrified by a fluffy Pokémon.

Then Barzini drew himself to his full height, "Noldor! Stand your ground! You are soldiers of Barzini! You will stand your ground,no matter what is thrown at you! CHARGE, COMRADE!"

At that, Noldor halted in his running, nodded, and attacked with Dragonbreath. The Mareep simply dodged it, and the following attacks after that.

Firaga jumped into action, itching for a battle. Our last Pokémon battle was on Thursday, during the weekly Pokémon battling sessions, where he almost murdered my classmate's Roselia, and clawed at her Donphan. Honestly, my Charmeleon would've won but then classes ended and needless to say Donphan would be training for next Thursday…

"Heracross and Mareep versus Charmeleon and Ba-?"

Silvan coiled itself tightly around Barzini's shoulder, causing him to yelp in pain. "Okay, okay, go ahead!" he cried out, and the Dratini moved towards the battlefield.

"Let's start then!" The boy yelled out. "Terra, use Earthquake!"

"RUN FOR COVER!" I yelled out and I ducked low to the ground. When you use an Earthquake, it really _is _an Earthquake, just that only the trainers and Pokémon can feel it. I learnt it in Biology lessons; when a Pokémon attacks its prey, it will _only _affect its prey.

"Don't be a _wimp _Charis!" Barzini yelled out, and he commanded his Dratini to use Water Pulse.

Firaga had been through this training before; I made my dad's Snorlax (aptly named Pig) to Earthquake Firaga until he learnt to feel the tremors and dodge it when the crucial point of Earthquake hits. Did you know I had to put up with jelly legs for _days_?

So when he leapt up without so much of a scratch, I knew my training had been largely successful. O levels, here I come!

Anyway, in the process, the trainer forgot his partner's Mareep, who was covered in sand and was already knocked out. Meanwhile, the Water Pulse from Silvan hit Terra in the face. The Heracross shook off the water, huffing slightly.

"Firaga, go for a Flamethrower!" I instructed, and he obliged, hitting Heracross square in the face, knocking it out.

"Noooo!" both trainers cried out.

"It was like, totally your fault, like, uh, yeah!" the girl whined, and I tried not to choke on my saliva at her complete failure.

"No way. Come on, we can win this!"

"I'm like, totally breaking up with you, if we like, lose."

Barzini snorted. "Hurry up!"

Skittles started to vibrate in my arms, and I sighed. She was starting to get sugar-high; I think she snuck in some sweet Skittles in her fur. It can store almost anything. "Firaga, let Skittles fight…"

"Char…" the despondent Charmeleon mumbled as he walked back to me. Meanwhile, Skittles leapt out in front of me, ready for battle.

"I'm sticking with Silvan!" Barzini said, as though I had asked him something.

"Okay, fine…"

This time, the boy sent out a Slugma, and his girlfriend sent out her Quagsire. "Let's go!" they both yelled out in unison, and I heard Barzini mutter "Oh how romantic…"

"Slag, use Flamethrower on Skitty!"

"Quixote, use Ice Beam on Dratini!"

"Skitty, dodge and use Water Pulse on Slugma!" I yelled out, but by then, Skittles had dodged the flamethrower, ran into the ice beam, and then to my utter relief dodged that as well. Then she leapt up and fired a Water Pulse from above, but missing the Slugma by an inch. The flamethrower came my way, but it faded before it could reach me. Flamethrower is a powerful, stable move, but it has its limits. I learnt that in Physics.

"Dragonbreath!" Barzini yelled out. Silvan launched a powerful Dragonbreath, which collided with the Ice Beam, and both Pokémon recoiled slightly from the impact. What did you expect, an _explosion _of epic propotions that momentarily blind you? This isn't Ash's Pikachu versus something else, you know.

"Slugma, use Rock Smash on Skitty!" the boy yelled out.

He had made a serious oversight. Slugmas happen to live up to their name – they are sluggish. And Skittles was far away from him, which meant that the lava Pokémon had to crawl over to a close distance and then jump up and attack Skittles. Basically, that wouldn't work too well.

Which is why Skittles managed to blast it with not one, but _three _Water Pulses, all hitting the target (thank goodness!)

"NOOO! Slag!"

Ah, slag, the waste product of the process of making pure iron. How apt.

"Quixote, use Muddy Water!" the girl commanded, and we all watched as the Quagsire generated first a mini whirpool, and then a brownish tsunami approached us, a bit too quickly for Barzini to run over to me as I opened my umbrella and prayed that my clothes wouldn't get wet. You never know with Surf and Muddy Water…

I watched as the dirty water dissipated in front of me, and looked at both Skittles and Silvan, all relatively unharmed, though the Dratini seemed a little drained.

"Silvan, use Draco Meteor!"

"Skittles, attack with Grass Knot!"

Comets started to rain down onto the poor Quagsire, as Silvan's glowed and stared up at the seemingly harmless sky, and together with Skittles they effectively knocked out the Quagsire.

"No, my dear Quixote!"

"Oh yeah, man!" Barzini yelled, and he extended his hand, palm facing upwards. "Now, hand over the goods!"

When he meant goods, I guess he wanted money from them. Oh yeah, I like the sound of that.

"I-I have a Fire Stone!" the boy offered.

"Oh yes, that'd be great, I can _totally _use that on my Charmeleon, _not_. Hand over something useful."

"Lip gloss?"

"Ew, no thanks, my lips are hyper sensitive." I shook my head.

"Hand. Over. Money." Barzini said, in a super slow way.

"A Moon Stone!" the boy yelled out, and he pulls the coveted stone triumphantly from his bag.

"And a Berry!" the girl adds in. "Oh, yeah, by the way, like, I totally don't like you, like, anymore, so I'm like, breaking up with you."

They threw the Moon Stone at me and she handed Barzini a Stirus Berry before they walked off.

"Wow. I thought I would see some overdramatic break up, but oh well. Now where is th- HOLY ARCEUS! Skittles, NO!"

Too late. My Skitty had happily caught the Moon Stone in her mouth, trying to nibble it off. Soon a bright light enveloped it, and before I knew it, my Skitty was gone, and in it's place, a Delcatty.

"Meow."

"S-Skittles? Is that you?" Oh goodness, I feel like a happy mum; which is what I felt when Firaga evolved from that little Charmander he was to this grown-up Charmeleon at my side. I still remembered that I ran over and hugged him even though I was in the middle of a Pokémon Battle Examination; I didn't care, I was so proud of him!

My Delcatty nodded and I felt as if my world has become a lot happier.

I ran over to her and hugged my little purple ball, while Barzini groaned and yelled. "You sappy Korean drama freak!"

* * *

We reached Lanseal Pokémon Academy, because I decided that I didn't want to battle. I mean, after you see your Pokémon grown up like that you'd think the same way!

Barzini ran over to his little plot of land in the middle of the Berry Garden and started to plant his Sitrus Berry. "I'm gonna be so rich; I'll sell it to my dorm mates!"

Firaga snickered as he snuck a few Oran Berries in Skittles' fur. I didn't say anything.

Barzini is obsessed with his berries. He could run a berry plantation and all his berries will turn out top quality. He would have this routine of tending to his berries for an hour or so. In fact, he's so involved in this berry thing that the school authorities gave him more space than the others. At the rate he was going, he could run the entire garden and no one would mind.

Except one person.

Rex liked berries too. He was my age, but not in my class, and he had a Grovyle named Green who had a green thumb (what do you expect from a grass Pokémon?) and an Electrike named Volt who enjoyed prancing about his plot of land, which helped out in the fertility of the soil.

I idly checked my watch. Crap. Have to get back to my dorm, pick up my stuff, and well, head home. "Oh shit, have to get home soon. See you later, or tomorrow or something, 'kay?" I told Barzini. I hoped he heard me when I added, "AND DON'T BE LATE ON MONDAY!"

* * *

**Okay, I'm co-authoring this with my junior Barzini (yes, that's his real name, NOT) and well, we take turns writing. He doesn't have a Fanfiction account, so I'm publishing it on behalf of him.**

**Barzini says God Bless you guys. And he would like to say that his Bagon and Dratini were named after races in Lord of the Rings. What a nerd (snort)  
**

**Anyway, since you've read the ending, you can submit an OC! Just send in the following:**

**Name - Any name will do, but please make it easy for me to type. I don't want to type eeveeandashloverzxs203458 because it's tiring.**

**Gender - no explanation needed.  
**

**Adult/Student - if you're an adult you can have any Pokémon you want.  
**

**Pokémon - two of them; be realistic and think: without spamming the elite four and gym leaders and living off lessons and stupid trainers, would your Pokémon evolve? Also, give them names.  
**

**Relationship - you can be just a normal student who bumps into me and gets me pissed off, or Barzini's secret lover, or a stalker. You can be anything, seriously. But again, be realistic, which is the entire gist of the story. Think high school and stuff! You could even be my aunt or something!  
**

**Quirks/ personality traits - because I don't want to be stuck with nothing to work on. **

**THANKS FOR REVIEWING. Yes, I absolutely know you'll review. **


	2. Barzini's POV

**THIS IS IN BARZINI'S POV!  
**

* * *

"Ah! Nooo! I am late for school! That woman's gonna kill me!"

Jumping out of bed, I grabbed Silvan, my Dratini and slung him around my shoulders, while I gently kicked Noldor, my Bagon and brought it out of dream land. I then thundered down to make Swablu eggs (high in calcium but they cost a bomb) for my family of 3. Me,Silvan and Noldor.

You'd be surprised, but to me, waking up late and making eggs myself is actually an everyday schedule. So Hi! I am Barzini. My parents have split up and I chose to stay alone in the school-provided dormitory. I got Silvan one day while I was fishing at the lake some 2 miles from my home (or dormitory) when I was young, and as for my Bagon, we met through a personality test. Despite the fact that Bagon's powers have been widely discussed in nearly all my textbooks (like how in the old days, they launched catapults filled with Bagons using Headbutt; that's sort of scary), I have yet to see _my _Bagon do anything remotely awesome. However, we 3 are true friends to each other.

I still remembered how the personality test went. He showed me photos and asked of my first thought. It was pretty weird, especially how Charis told me that usually the first words that came to her mind looking at them were 'Okay, this is getting lame'.

Firstly, he showed me what looked like the sky, to which I immediately replied "Freedom". He gave me a toothless smile and showed a picture of himself on the screen. I grinned and said rather apologetically, "Patience" (I think Charis said 'balding' but that's a rumour I'd rather not confirm). A few days later before the term started, Bagon came in a Pokéball into my hands.

So how is school like?

"Late as usual, Barzini! One day I will really barge into your room and hit you awake…"

The young, pretty prefect Charis stood by the school gate, waiting for me apparently (I am not surprised, because I'm always late). She took out a notebook and acted like she was taking down my name, as the teacher walked by her.

She watched as the teacher walked by without turning back, and then scoffed at me and hit me. "You can't keep it up like this! I can't act here all day!" she said in an undertone before resuming her business-like tone, "Detention for you!"

The teacher nearby turned around and clapped politely as Charis did a mock curtsy. Playing along, I pulled a face, and to add on, I lowered my head and said loudly "I am sorry ma'am!" and then whispered, "I got free tickets to Macs again, let us go this weekend."

She nodded and hurried away to her lesson, with me following closely behind.

It's standard here in Lanseal to start the morning with a flag ceremony, where your Pokémon will stand by your side and watch you sing (or mouth) the anthem. Following that, we'd have physics, where we are supposed to learn "the art of throwing a poke ball", when in truth, they just teach us how to use wind speed and stuff to do a rough calculation in our heads the angle of which we throw the ball.

After Physics I had Medical training. Sadly, Pokémon are viewed more importantly than humans, as we are trained on how to apply potions, antidotes and other objects. Then, we will have a break time where we dine with our Pokémon and friends. This is the favourite time of the day for every student; I mean, who would reject an hour's rest? Maybe people like Charis, but I wouldn't say that in front of her. Ever.

This would be the time where Charis and I would have a get together with our Pokémon. I always admired her Charmeleon, Firaga. At least it was evolved and looked tougher. This image was reinforced as I noticed Noldor's stomach, crammed with my share of sandwich and his own.

"Bagon!" he retorted, as though he was supposed to eat my sandwich in the first place.

Despite my selfish Bagon and my literally clingy Dratini, I love my Pokémon as much as Charis loves hers.

"Hey Charis, don't tell me you aced your physics test again?" I gave her a sidelong look.

"No…" she mumbled. "I uh…oh look, Firaga, you look hungry. Skittles, stop eating your Skittles!"

She aced it.

The Delcatty's snout emerged from the packet of Skittles, and nudged it away reluctantly.

Well, we are poles apart but good buddies. She was smart, while I was slow. She is a complete softie (she was nearly murdered by that injured Zangoose she tried to rescue one day), while I was tough (I made the Zangoose more injured than normal; needless to say Charis got upset).

Anyway, after break time, we were made to do physical training with our Pokémon. Charis and I always admired how some guys in the class could do 10 laps so easily, while she starts to die at 8, for me 9.

And then…Pokémon-Human Physical Education.

It is essentially a time where we get to train our Pokémon to learn a certain move or for Contest appeals.

I spotted Markus by the side, trying to teach his Turtwig Energy Ball. His Taillow, Swoosh was swooping about, trying out the hoops set up for such a purpose.

"Yo, Markus!" I shouted and jogged towards him.

He looked up at me and nodded in acknowledgement, and his Turtwig, Twigs did the same.

Markus Putnam was an exchange student from Canada, a quiet fellow, which is a big contrast to me, a noisy one. However, he had a special knack of knowing everything about Pokémon, and he's always interested to learn more. As of today, he has been staying with me for two weeks and learnt much about the art of berries from me. He's also opening himself up to everyone else, which is a pretty good thing.

"Twigs, Energy Ball!"

The Turtwig finally unleashed a large blob of green, much to her delight, and the blob crashed into…

A Kirlia.

Swiftly, the Kirlia used Detect, and a shield formed in front of the Pokémon, ending the Energy Ball.

Twigs looked despondent, but her trainer wasn't. In fact, Markus ran up to the Kirlia and examined it. "Hey, did you know Kirlia can evolve into a Gardevoir or a Gallade?"

The girl turned around, with a Bulbasaur in her arms. She looked at Markus and blinked. "Um, what?"

Markus continued, perhaps to himself, or to everyone else, for he was very loud when he exclaimed excitedly. "I know! You can evolve it to a Gallade if your Kirlia's a male and if you have a Dawn Stone but if you don't have either of them Kirlia evolves into a plain ol' Gardevoir."

He finished and looked at her expectantly.

"I knew that!" she retorted.

Kirlia sensed that she wasn't very pleased with the lecture she didn't require, so the Pokémon leapt up and formed a fairly sharp shield, before diving towards Markus and Twigs, smashing them to the ground.

"Great job, I knew you'd get it. Okay, now, would _you _like to try the jabbing method?" she asked her Bulbasaur, who eagerly nodded.

Before Markus and Twigs could react, the Bulbasaur had launched a Vine Whip, only instead of simply whipping them silly, the vines coiled together to form a thick vine that slammed into Twigs, who used Withdraw, and curled into a ball in defense.

I tried to help out by negotiating with her. I bravely walked up to the girl, who had a smug look on her face. "Hey, I don't think you're supposed to assault Markus like tha- ARGH!"

Before I knew it, she had grabbed me and then tossed me over her shoulder. My Bagon and Dratini could only stare in shock.

"Okay, did you two see that? Try that."

Kirlia proceeded to use Psychic, tossing Twigs over. The Bulbasaur watched in awe, and did the same to Noldor, the Bagon falling on his head.

I cringed.

Noldor was now officially peeved. He marched up towards the Bulbasaur who blinked at him nonchalantly. Now wanting to be taken seriously, he launched an angry ball of flames at the Pokémon, who simply dodged.

Noldor attempted to continue, but I spotted the teacher watching me intently. If she caught me, I was doomed. Immediately, I leapt towards Noldor, and Silvan did the same, and we both struggled to hold off the Bagon.

"Noldor, calm down!"

"Dratini!" Silvan cried out.

* * *

By the time we calmed down, Twigs started to look for the two Pokémon. I followed her, with the distraught Bagon in my arms and Dratini on my head. I spotted the girl talking with Charis, who didn't look like she was in pain. Except her Charmeleon, Firaga, who was being thrown about by the Kirlia. Skittles was watching in rapt attention, and when she saw me, she started to sniff my pockets.

I cursed myself for buying skittles.

"Oh, sorry about just now…I was trying to teach my Pokémon some moves, honestly. You know, surprise the teachers…I'm Jayden Rivers." She looked apologetic, and her Bulbasaur nodded eagerly. Her Kirlia didn't look upset; the psychic looked happy.

Bagon twitched.

"Well, that's okay. I'm Barzini, and this is Twigs, Markus' Turtwig. He's sitting somewhere there…" I extended a hand and she shook it, grinning.

"Nice to meet you! And…sorry for before."

Charis smiled at me, and suggested, "Hey, why not you both have a Pokémon battle tomorrow? See who's the better Pokémon, and stuff."

I noticed that the Kirlia perked up, and so did Noldor, who recovered from his depression immediately. "Bagon!"

Ohhh, yes, I can see it now, me beating the awesomeness out of her…

"Sure thing!" we both said in unison, and Charis grinned as she watched her Charmeleon hobble towards her, still in one piece.

"Great! Oh, okay, have to get to class, see you guys later!" With that, she ran off, with Jayden following suit, for her own lessons.

"Let's go, Markus. More lessons after this…" I announced, and we both headed to class.

* * *

After school, Charis and I would have a friendly match with each other; dueling, if you would call that, at the field where young couples would hold hands and eat sandwiches. We always seem out of place there, but, HECK, such is life.

"Go! Silvan and Noldor! Send them back to the abyss!"

"Go Skittles and Firaga! Shut this Lord Of The Rings nerd up!"

Firaga leapt up and tried to slash at Noldor, but that small little dinosaur stood still and brought its own claws to Firaga for Dragon Claw. At that, Firaga dived sideways and went back to the side of Skittles, who was still cleaning her fur of Skittles stain.

Charis then pointed at Silvan, "Skittles! Use Iron Tail!"

Skittles scampered forward and as it was about to turn around and send Silvan flying, it got hit by a jet of beam. I forgot to tell Charis, that my awesome Dratini learnt how to use Hyper Beam from my roommate, Markus.

Skittles went flying back and laid still, obviously out cold.

You think that when a Pokémon faints, it has the cute starry eyes in it? Actually, it is a really sad sight, especially when a fur ball so cute gets blasted by a cute little Hyper Beam. Especially how she cleaned herself just a while ago…

However, as I was distracted by Silvan's victory, Noldor started engaging in a ferocious struggle with Firaga, both sides using Flamethrower at the same time and having a lock in mid-air. You think at this point of time, like what happens on TV, some explosion would occur, or the flames go around each other? No! What happens here is that the weaker of the two would slowly stop breathing out fire to rest, and would most probably be defeated. However, it is foolish for trainers to break it up should they happen to be on the receiving end. The only way to stop this is to wait, or to initiate another attack, with another Pokémon, of course.

"Silvan! Use Blizzard!"

"Ah! Barzini! I took a lot of time combing my hair!" Charis shouted at me as the blizzard started growing in the battle zone, and flung both Noldor and Firaga off their feet. Noldor wasn't affected, because he wasn't supposed to be in the first place, and Firaga was standing strong, his tail flickering in the strong blizzard.

I took a look at my watch, and yelped. I had to show Markus around!

"Hey! Charis! Give this to Skittles later! Saves you the trip to the Pokémon Centre!"

I tossed a Potion to Charis, who was trying to defrost her hair, and leapt on my bike to the Dormitory, where I had to water my garden and take Markus out for a while.

* * *

When I reached our dormitory, Markus was already dressed and ready to go, and he had already watered the plants for me! (Bless Him; thank goodness!)

"All set to go, Barzini?" he quizzed me.

I nodded and sent Silvan and Noldor off to bed, and beckoned for him to come with me.

"So, where are we going?" he asked, with a hint of interest in his voice.

"Tell me, ole boy, have you ever been downtown to the Mega Mall? They sell a lot of things for Pokémon!"

Markus seemed to consider this for a while and nodded. He handed me my backpack and we started to ride out, with his Turtwig, Twigs, and his Taillow ,Swoosh. Twigs sat on Markus' head and Swoosh flew closely behind.

For all couch potatoes on the planet, you really think when you reach a department store like in TV, the whole place looks empty and there is a lift that zooms up and down at your beck and call almost instantly? YOU'RE WRONG! Sometimes it gets stuck and stuff.

When we reached there, I suggested to Markus that we wait for an hour or so before we enter the department store. He looked at me puzzlingly as I pointed to the door of the department store. A horde of women and children, with Pokémon ranging from fast Rattata (Charis would say 'in the totally top percentage of Rattata!') to big burly Machamps, were waiting eagerly at the door, as the doorman unveiled the "Discount Hour" sign and opened the door. Markus muttered "Wise choice…" before a floral shop caught his attention.

He gestured excitingly at what looked like nuts to me, and dragged me away from the Sushi Stand, where they were selling Feebas meat fresh from the sea.

"What?" I said forcefully, but he completely ignored my question.

He simply pointed, "Look! Apricorns! Berries, too!"

I searched my memory for the word "Apricorns". What was the D&T (Design and Technology) teacher telling us about Apricorns? Oh yes, "….a type of nut that is edible AND used to make certain types of Poké balls."

I perked up at once and checked the price tag of the Apricorns, 15 dollars for one type, a rip-off, but for a person who sells his berries for 60 dollars a jar at school, you bet he can afford it. I immediately grabbed the bags of Apricorns and checked them…

"White…Green…Black…Red…Pink…Blue..Yellow…mmh hmm…" I murmured to myself thoughtfully as Markus dragged me inside to look at the berries.

Not to brag, but out of the 64 types of berries out there commercially available, I lacked 2. They were expensive to me last time and I could not find them anywhere, but now, I made up my mind to lay my hands on at least 1; a Custap Berry, or a Sitrus berry, so I could expand my garden and recipes for cooking poffins for contest lessons.

As I pushed my way into the crowd, I saw one precious little Custap Berry sitting there, until a girl picked it up.

I tapped the girl's shoulder and said, "Hey! That berry is mine…please?"

The girl obviously never learnt any manners and gave me a four lettered word (oh so very loudly) before saying another one, "Duel!"

I was about to say "Damn right, you're going down!" when the shocking truth came to me, Silvan and Noldor are asleep somewhere far from me.

I was about to walk away when Markus came by me and hissed, "I'll get it for you…"

The girl gave a snort of laughter and shouted, "At him! Go, Serpent!"

At that, a tough-_looking_ Seviper came wriggling out of the crowd and raised itself.

Markus beckoned for Swoosh, the Taillow to go forward, and he hovered right above the Seviper.

The girl bellowed, "Bite!"

Look, as I have said it was a tough-_looking_ Seviper, and as it opened its mouth, Markus shouted, "Aerial Ace!" and the serpent fainted immediately, probably from trauma that it had a wing smashed into its beautiful fangs.

"NO!"

The girl handed over the berry unwillingly, and I patted Markus on the back, and went off to pay for everything I was carrying, which totaled up to some $165, which I paid quite cheerfully with Markus's mouth open at the total cost.

The little trip in the store took about half an hour, so we continued. I took Markus to a tech store, and as a form of thanks, bought him a Poké Navigator, as my wallet was still fat from the sale of the berries. Berry-selling reaped in some $6000 at least. I got my Pokémon a bed each and for Charis, I got that Little Miss Prefect a Homework Planner app for her Pokémon Navigator.

We then settled down at KFP for some Pidgey meat, before setting off for the department store. The crowd had cleared, but it was still rather hard to move about so we set out for the Poké Store first, which was really huge for a Mart. Markus bought Twigs a nice little bed made of wood, and Swoosh, a nice perch as it would take no cage and was our sorry excuse for an alarm clock because Swoosh oversleeps too. He was supposed to peck us until we were awake but would always wake up later than us.

Meanwhile, I went off to buy some gardening tools, and looked longingly at the television set, before we headed off to the Games Corner.

In Singapore, gambling is strictly for adults, and I am sorry to disappoint you, no, we do not play jackpot machines in the Games Corner, but games like Time Crisis etc. Anyway, we were on a roll with the reflexes machine, where you're supposed to hammer at the dolls that appear from holes as part of reflexes, and we won enough tokens to get 6 tickets to the Safari Zone. I usually preferred going in small groups so I decided to give her one later. After we shopped till we dropped, we hired a Tropius taxi service instead of riding back. We were too tired to carry all our goodies, but I still made sure I had enough energy to plant all those Apricorns and Berries I got. I watered them and looked longingly at the soil as if it would pop up as quickly as the games, but left to turn in for bed.

Tomorrow, our AV Media Club session, where we go to the botanical gardens in Singapore. Now, where did I put my camera…?

* * *

**Thanks for all the reviews. Sorry to confuse, but since we co-author this, we take turns to write.  
**

**I think I'll accept OCs but make them more interesting. CAN SOMEONE PLEASE BE BARZINI'S STALKER? Or something...anything. You guys can even join the AV Media Club! Yup.**

**Okay, and one more thing - Barzini has created his account, and he wrote a Lord of The Rings fanfic, so R&R FOR BOTH! :D**


	3. Showdown: Charis' POV

Today, I decided to pay Barzini a visit in the morning.

"WAKE UP YOU IDIOT!" I banged my fists at his door, and then Markus came out, looking disheveled and confused. Barzini was next, and in his Lord of the Rings pyjamas he looked ravishing.

Not.

"Oh. Right." Barzini nodded as he went into the toilet to wash up. I rolled my eyes and walked away, trying to ignore the complete mess he made. If I were there I'd –

"Oof!" I bumped into someone, and I looked up.

"Oh heya, missy. Need help?" The boy gave me a grin and a thumbs-up. "The name's Cole Harding. And what's yours, cutie?"

He pinched my cheek, and Firaga attacked him with Scratch, causing him to cry out in pain. His Chimchar leapt at Firaga, trying to strangle the dragon but Firaga easily yanked the Chimchar away.

"Well, if you excuse me…" Skittles and Firaga followed me as I pushed past him, only to slam straight into him again. "Okay, you're getting annoying."

"I know, too cute for you, babe?"

This time, Skittles launched an Iron Tail at him. I thought that for once she had finally done something good, until she brought out a packet of chocolate from his pocket, and started to snack. The Delcatty offered one to Firaga, but the Charmeleon shook his head in disgust.

I sighed. "Okay, better get to class…"

* * *

I reached Biology class. Today was pretty exciting because my teacher brought us all a Caterpie liver to compare with a human liver. Because Caterpies eat tons of proteins, and stuff.

For a Caterpie, it had a very large liver. "This is so gross, but interesting." I muttered to myself.

"I know…this is just gross…" Aydan Belle responded, looking at his liver specimen. His Riolu and Eevee were next to him, watching in mortification.

Skittles, upon seeing a foreign liver, tried to sniff it and then touch it, so I had to sterilize her heavily and wrap the Delcatty up in plastic. And then I sent her out of the classroom because she could hang around with the other Pokémon who didn't want to see the liver. Firaga was trying to torch it, but when I threatened to send him outside, he simply watched quietly.

Aydan Belle can be considered as a close friend of mine. We bonded over the game Kingdom Hearts and well, we've shared our insane moments together. His emerald eyes widened at how I was cutting the livers in half.

Meanwhile, another lab partner of mine, Kishon, was already done with his comparison of the liver. His Gible, Gairbith, was seated next to the liver, watching his every action. He looked hungry, but I shook that disturbing thought out. Do Gibles eat Caterpies?

"You're done already, Kishon?" I asked.

"Yeah, unlike some slowpokes around here…" he replied, coughing softly. I looked at the livers. It was true.

Kishon was yet another friend, and he was similarly a Kingdom Hearts fan, though he didn't like me. I think it was because I told him that he should be happier.

"I'm not…too bad. Not like Jayden, I guess." We all turned to the girl, who was simply staring at the Caterpie liver. Her Bulbasaur, Chikyu sterilized her vines and took gloves before probing it lightly. Kishon nudged the girl, with Chikyu looking on curiously, and she instantly snapped out of her daydream.

"I'm done already…" she whined, before she continued to stare ahead at nothing. In complete disbelief, the three of us crowded around her. Aydan gently pulled (okay, maybe not gently, but she didn't notice her worksheet being yanked out, so…) the worksheet and we all gaped in shock. It was completely filled, with a few extra points at the bottom of the worksheet.

"Wow."

* * *

By the time we were done with English, I was exhausted. Jayden was by my side, and we were both discussing the significance of Romeo and Juliet having Zangoose and Seviper ("They were both _really _star-crossed lovers with everything in between being wrong…") when Barzini stepped in front of us, his Bagon looking really angry.

"Oh yeah!" Jayden laughed and smacked his shoulder. Barzini, being physically inadequate, tried to look completely nonchalant even though I noticed that he had winced at the pain. "I totally forgot. Come on, let's go then! The battlefield!" Her Kirlia, Seishin twirled about, and I smiled at Jayden. I guess she must've been pretty excited about battling Barzini, since Kirlia perceived her emotions. Apparently, when they sense positive emotions, they start dancing about.

* * *

"Okay, so it's a double battle?" I asked, a bit unsure. Firaga and Skittles sat down next to me, Skittles munching off…wait, is that my Kinder Bueno chocolate I was saving up…?

"YES!" both shouted for the third time. Jayden had Seishin and Chikyu next to each other, waiting for her command. Noldor and Silvan were getting ready, with the Bagon doing warm-ups that were strangely human-like, while Silvan was stretching his body, ready to dart about and attack.

"Okay, let's begin then. Uh…so it's Barzini versus Jayden; Bagon and Dratini versus Kirlia and Bulbasaur!" I yelled out, because now there was a crowd forming.

The last time I watched a battle in school was say, a few days ago, and the crowds were so thick I didn't know who was fighting, which Pokémon they were using…it was ridiculous and I was rather disappointed because it sounded pretty exciting.

I spotted Cole, giving Barzini a thumbs-up, and turning to wink at another girl. I also saw Barzini's childhood friend, Malik Shabazz, who was watching with mild interest. His Vibrava and Sandslash were watching as well. He walked over to Barzini and patted him on his back reassuringly.

Jayden wasn't lacking in support either. Markus had gone up to her, wishing her good luck, before wincing and rubbing his stomach, where she had attacked him yesterday. I spotted a girl wearing purple tinted sunglasses and with striking gold highlights in her hair grinning at Jayden as well. Rex had obviously sided against Barzini, so he naturally sat where he was closer to Jayden's side.

So…there was the Barzini side and the Jayden side. The Barzini side was swarming with boys, but it was smaller than Jayden's, surprisingly enough.

The battle started.

"Seishin, use Psychic on Dratini! Chikyu, grab at Bagon with Vine Whip!" Jayden commanded. I saw the glint in her eyes, and I suddenly realized that Jayden had strategized prior to the battle. Unlike her opponent.

The Kirlia's eyes widened and glowed, and soon Silvan found himself writhing in the air with her Psychic.

"Noldor, use Flamethrower on the Bulbasaur! Make sure she doesn't grab you! Then use Crunch on the Kirlia before Silvan gets damaged!" Barzini retaliated.

Psychic has its disadvantage, because in Psychic, the user focuses its telekinetic energy. If it lifts a Pokémon up instead of blasting it, Psychic may inflict more damage, but the user has to be even more focused, because extra energy is needed to lift in the first place.

I mean, it's only practical, right? It's not _that _easy like in the Pokémon games, where something weird happens to the background and poof, the sprite gets damaged. _Noooo_. I learnt this in Physics.

"Throw the Dratini at the Bagon!"

Noldor launched a flamethrower at Chikyu, and he was fast enough to catch Silvan, both relatively unharmed.

Chikyu dodged the flamethrower, but she was soon hit by another flamethrower, this time from Silvan, who had somehow launched one while flying towards Noldor. Before Chikyu could take more damage, Seishin had summoned a shield in front of the Bulbasaur.

"Not bad!" Jayden commented, her face flushed with excitement. "Seishin, Icy Wind!"

Seishin started to spin about at high speed, and soon, cold winds formed, and Seishin did enough to form a miniature spinning top that stung because it was absolutely frigid. While still spinning, the Kirlia flew at Noldor and Silvan, both receiving significant damage.

I remembered what my brother played and it resembled Seishin at that instance – a Beyblade. Or a spinning top, I guess. Whatever. It just looked like that.

"Noldor, aim for the head; use Headbutt at the glowing thing there!" He pointed at Seishin, her eyes glowing a bright pink, blinding most in the vicinity.

Noldor stood up, shaking slightly. He growled, and then ran headfirst into the snowstorm that was brewing. It wasn't very strong, since it wasn't a Kirlia's nature to use Icy Wind, but it was tough.

Surprised, Jayden summoned Chikyu. "Chikyu, block that Bagon!"

"Silvan, flamethrower at Chikyu!"

Though the icy wind didn't affect Chikyu, it blinded the Bulbasaur temporarily. Chikyu was hit by the flamethrower directly, throwing it out of the storm and effectively, out of battle.

"Ugh, Chikyu!"

"Now, Noldor!"

The Bagon was still surging forward, and then Noldor leapt up for a solid Headbutt. The snowstorm stopped and Seishin was hurled towards Jayden.

Fortunately, she landed without hitting anyone. I sighed, as Firaga let me use his tail flame to defrost my hair.

The two dragon Pokémon returned to Barzini's side, both ready to end the battle. Seishin leapt back gracefully in front of Jayden, and didn't seem all that affected by spinning around at high speeds. If Skittles did such a thing…let's just say the Delcatty would be puking out her guts at my toilet.

I greeted Benjamin and Xenny as they both sat down next to me. Benjamin and Xenny were a couple, and they were proud of it. They held hands everyday, they had the same birthday…

Benjamin grinned at me and explained, in great detail, of the odds of winning the match. "Barzini has both Pokémon standing, but a few this and they'll be out. Jayden has one Pokémon knocked out, but if she's careful and quick enough the Kirlia may get out of this alive."

Did I mention the three of us can be total _geeks_ sometimes?

"After all, Kirlia didn't take much damage," Xenny continued, as her Quilava, Shaily, trotted up to her and curled up next to her, "and she's been doing the most damage so far. The Bulbasaur was defending her, in some sense." She started to defrost her hair as well, sighing.

Oh, did I _also_ mention that both Benjamin and Xenny were one of the top few students? In fact, they both topped the school in one subject – Amaths and Chinese respectively. It was amazing, though they weren't the top student. The top student was always Lila Nola Patch; I've heard that she's so smart her Lucario could speak French…but that was just a rumour; I don't believe a word of it.

I should teach Firaga to say 'excuse me' if he burps in English and Chinese…

"Noldor, use Crunch, and Silvan, use Dark Pulse!" Barzini commanded, and the two dragon Pokémon launched their attacks. Noldor ran towards the Kirlia, baring his teeth, while Silvan started to generate dark energy from his mouth.

"Seishin, protect!" Jayden shouted, but the Kirlia was hit by the fast-hitting Dark Pulse, sending the Pokémon reeling back. Before Noldor could attack, the Kirlia shielded herself. I heard Firaga snigger as Noldor glared at Seishin, who did a curtsy.

"Okay, Seishin, do the same thing; Icy wind!" Seishin nodded and started to twirl about, creating the same effect as before. Noldor and Silvan stood their ground, braving the icy wind.

"Noldor, use Crunch, and Silvan, Dark Pulse!" The spinning ice top that Seishin formed was rapidly hitting them, and when Seishin came close to Noldor, the Bagon launched straight into the icy wind and attacked Seishin straight on. Seishin stopped spinning, stunned by the Crunch, and her eyes started to glow. She sent Noldor, who was actively gnawing at her head hurling towards Barzini with a simple psychic, before using a normal Icy Wind at Silvan, who retaliated with a Dark Pulse. Both attacks hit the other party and both Seishin and Silvan stumbled back, looking a bit dazed.

Barzini saw this as an opportunity to land the final blow. "Noldor, HYPER BEAM!" he cried out, almost triumphantly, and the crowds fell silent, watching as the Bagon formed a blinding ball of light in his mouth. When the ball got too big for the Bagon's mouth (which was _really _big) he released the Hyper Beam, hitting Seishin straight on.

Then it got so bright, the people watching the battle started to scream as though they were in grave danger. People started to run about, screaming like madmen. I felt the ground rumble for some reason and then I felt both Firaga and Skittles huddling closer to me.

When the light finally disappeared, Barzini was on the floor, knocked out, and Seishin had already fainted. Jayden was next to her Kirlia, spraying at her wounds. When she looked up at me, she grinned. "Look at that, Charis. The lil' Bagon's evolved, and the trainer isn't awake to see it."

I glanced at where Noldor stood, and true enough, a Shelgon stood there, watching the students fleeing the area. Firaga and Skittles ran up to the newly evolved Pokémon, patting him on his back. Skittles lifted up Silvan on her back to celebrate as well.

I also noticed that they were completely ignoring Barzini, who was out cold for some strange reason. Jayden walked up to Barzini, and nudged him with her foot. "Hey, wake up."

His brand new Shelgon happily trotted up to Barzini, with Silvan resting on top. When Barzini simply groaned in response and covered his face, Noldor proceeded to tackle him...hard.

"OKAY, I'm up-" he looked at the Shelgon, beaming at him proudly, and his Dratini, who was curled up on top, and he screamed at his Pokémon in horror.

"HOLY MEW! NOLDOR!" he shrieked, and then in his messed-up state he hugged the Shelgon and made really weird gurgling noises.

Jayden smirked and then we both exchanged glances. Boys. They're so weird.

"Anyway…I gotta get to my CCA practice. Today we're learning how to deliver a fatal one-hit blow to an assailant. See you!" Jayden picked up her bag, and ran off.

* * *

CCA, or co-curricular activity. You could call it an after-school activity that is compulsory, because we don't want to known as cyborgs with a complete lack of life. The official reason is to achieve a balanced lifestyle, but if the only thing you're going to do in our CCA is listen to teachers mumble stuff about photography, I don't think it's really balanced.

Anyway, for us, we're sort of lucky. I share the same CCA as Barzini; AV Media Club, a merger between the AVA and the Media Club. Don't ask why; the principal thought it was a brilliant idea to combine resources and all that rubbish. Officially, we do videos and photography and publications, but so far, we've been listening to tutorials about photography. I consider that lucky, because it beats getting really really tan. Once, after a band competition, our school band members all came back brown and grossly tan. Staying in an air-conditioned room is a privilege.

But from today onwards we're going on a few field trips to different parts of Singapore, taking photographs for several competitions. We're going to the Botanical Gardens today, but next week it'll be the vicinity of Chinatown.

Barzini and I got our Pokémon healed at the Chansey corner next to the library, and then we set off to the foyer, where a red-haired teacher was waiting.

Ms Kane was rather old, and rather pale. She had bright red lipstick on, and she didn't seem very happy when she saw us running towards her, with our Pokémon behind us. The other members of the group watched us in amusement, before heading up the bus.

Barzini gulped and greeted Ms Kane, before we both quickly ran up the bus before she could say anymore. We both slid into our seats, where Barzini was congratulated by most of the members, and Noldor received a warm applause for 'beating Kirlia butt'. I sat down, rolling my eyes.

Ms Kane came up and addressed us, talking about our competition odds (in simple terms, none) before telling us that we shouldn't play around in the Botanical Gardens and stuff like that. Soon the bus was off, and everyone was talking about Barzini's battle.

Markus Putnam, who had sat down behind us, looked at Noldor in awe. "That's one cool Shelgon…" he whispered to himself, and Noldor beamed at him before settling down for a nap.

"Shel!" Noldor replied, and I guess that's Pokémon language for 'of course'.

* * *

After what seemed like ages, we reached the Botanical Gardens. Singapore may be small, but the Botanical Gardens really _is _far!

We alighted the bus, looking around and pulling out our cameras, and I spotted Keven, my cousin, running an art store there. As usual.

His Teddiursa, Teddy Moon, was busy painting flowers with his claws, and his Lapras Blué was looking about curiously, attracting equally curious patrons who eventually bought Keven's art work.

Keven and Teddy Moon were one of the most artistic people in the school. He usually set up such stores in front of places like the Singapore Zoo or the Istana. The stint at the Istana didn't go very well; since the Istana was the official residence for the President and the meeting place for important people, security chased him away.

The Zoo was a different story. When Keven started drawing crowds of people into the zoo they were so happy they offered him a job there, and as a gift they gave him a baby Lapras, which was really rare. It was ridiculous, but true.

And since Blué the Lapras spent a fair bit of time in the zoo, he has peculiar mannerisms for a trainer-owned Pokémon. For example, he rams into strangers he meets. And for people he already met, he delivers a too-friendly headbutt on the head.

Which is why I stood a fair distance away from Blué as I approached Keven.

"How's business?" I asked him, as Firaga and Skittles greeted Teddy Moon and Blué, with Firaga warning Blué not to headbutt anyone, and Skittles encouraging him to headbutt her for the sake of it.

Keven looked up at me and grinned. "Quite good; not bad at all," he exclaimed in Chinese. Keven was a Malaysian, and he was quite used to speaking Chinese, unlike his Singaporean cousins (my siblings and I) so usually when we have our usual reunions during Chinese New Year, we put up with listening with Chinese. It _is _our mother tongue, after all.

I called for Firaga and Skittles, before bidding him goodbye, as we set off in threes into the Botanical Gardens. We had two hours here, so we could take photos or rest until then.

Markus had released Twigs and Swoosh. The Taillow flew up into the skies and chirped happily, while Twigs jumped about, watching the flowers sway in the breeze. The Turtwig was soon joined by Skittles, the Delcatty rolling about in the grass. I snapped a few photographs of Skittles playing with a stray Butterfree, and Twigs watching a flower eagerly.

Firaga started to explore the area, with Noldor following him as well. Barzini let Silvan down as well, and he got on Skittles.

"Come on, have to take a few photographs." I urged Barzini, who simply rolled his eyes. Barzini thinks that I take this too seriously, but I find it fun. The strange thing is that Barzini won an award for his photograph before, but I haven't won once.

Markus simply took in the sights; he hasn't seen much of Singapore aside from Orchard Road (and that was just _one _shopping mall he went to) and the vicinity of Lanseal Pokémon Academy.

We walked along the Pelipper Lake, where a few Pelippers were resting and floating about. Wingulls were swooping about as well, and were playing with a few Lotads and one Lombre. It was pretty rare to spot a Lombre, so I snapped a photograph of the Lombre among the Lotads.

Skittles pranced about, enjoying the winds and watching the Hoppips float about. Barzini peeked into the trees and spotted a Kecleon, lazing on a tree branch. He hissed at Markus and I, "Kecleon! Kecleon!"

I peered into the midst of trees, and true enough, a Kecleon was there. It was camouflaged, but the bright red zig-zag across its belly was unmistakable. We both reached for our cameras and took a few photographs.

Markus, who finally noticed us, wriggled his way through the both of us, and then he announced, "It's a Kecleon! WOW! It's camouflaged, but yes, the red markings are there! So it _is _true!"

The Kecleon looked up, startled, and then it scurried up into the trees. Barzini groaned. "Well, you just chased it away!" he yelled out, before we all continued our way up towards the Orchid Garden.

Scientists have determined that there are plants, and there are Pokémon plants. Wild Pokémon plants are rare, simply because they can move, but they can be bred to produce interesting fruits and scents. My mum always invested in Vileplume soup; the petals of a healthy Vileplume cruelly mashed up into pulp, and mixed into boiling water. Add a few other stuff, and that's all. It's disgusting.

The Chinese also drink Swellow's Nest, essentially the saliva of Swellows and some other unknown ingredients. Sharpedo's fin soup too, and it's popular because Sharpedoes are a menace, and they breed really fast. Some claim that they're on the verge of extinction, so they made the fake Sharpedo's fin soup, which is just flour and flavourings. Gross, eh?

We entered the Orchid Garden with the passes our teacher handed us, and Barzini started to chase a Bellossom that he spotted dancing about to get a photograph. I followed a Yanma and took a few photographs of it nestled between the flowers. Firaga tried to attack it, but ever since a delegate's Typlosion once burnt down part of the Botanical Gardens while he was on an official visit to Singapore, Pokémon battles have been banned. I glared at Firaga before the Charmeleon could do anything.

I watched someone's Poochyena chasing after a Frisbee, and then headed towards the heart of the Orchid Garden. It was rather boring afterwards, because all they had were orchids. Barzini had lost track of the Bellossom, and he was sulking with Markus, who got moody over the lack of any Pokémon in the Garden.

"Are we getting out _soon_?" Barzini whined, and I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, fine. There's a performance by an Oddish dance troupe later by the Pelipper Lake, maybe we can get some shots. An hour more, so let's just make the best of it…" I flipped through the brochure I picked up at the entrance, checking the map for the last time, before I started to walk. "I guess we can take a few photographs there."

Markus blinked. "Oddish dance troupe… do you mean the Evolution Flowers?" he asked, and he consulted his handbook, filled with information about Singapore. "An international dance troupe, performing here every alternate day for this month. They're made up of Oddish, Gloom, Vileplume and Bellossom. They depict the evolution of Oddish."

Barzini sighed. "Fine…"

We left the garden and walked down the hill towards the grand stage, surrounded by a small pond that was connected to the Pelipper Lake. There was a Machop there, bossing about the wild Lotads, and he had a backstage pass around his neck. When the small pond was empty, he ran back to the stage to report.

The three of us sat down in silence, waiting for the show to start. We watched our Pokémon make friends with other Pokémon in the area, and I noticed Noldor struggling to climb up the hill to Silvan. His legs gave way and the Shelgon found himself rolling backwards at high speed…

Instinctively, to avoid any injuries, I did the most natural thing in the world – push Barzini to act as Noldor's barricade.

Before Barzini could yell at me, he was hit by his Shelgon, and he fell backwards before getting up, his despondent Shelgon in his arms.

"Gosh, you gained weight…!" Barzini panted out.

"Shelgon…" Noldor replied apologetically, and Barzini frowned as he crawled up the hill and set him down next to Firaga, who introduced him to a few Pokémon he had already met.

"The poor guy…" I commented, watching the group of Pokémon thoughtfully.

"Ahh, it's okay!" Markus exclaimed, patting Barzini on the back. "Noldor will get used to it soon, yeah? I read about this somewhere; a Pokémon may take some time to adjust to a new body. Like…how a newly evolved Charizard may fall over due to excess weight and its inability to use its wings to balance itself."

I heard Firaga choke on his fireball.

Twigs trotted over to Firaga and patted him apologetically for his trainer's rudeness. The Charmeleon shrugged off the Turtwig, and started to sulk.

"Sorry, Firaga," Markus apologized, and then he lit up suddenly, "but it's true! It's also true for a Shelgon!"

This time, Noldor glared at Markus threateningly. Markus gulped and moved slightly further away from both offended Pokémon.

"It's the same for Twigs too…" he mumbled, and now Twigs glared at him. "I should stop talking."

"Yeah, thanks," Barzini mumbled, and he glanced at the stage. "It's starting; watch!"

We all turned towards the stage, where true enough, a lone Oddish was standing there, as proud as a Milotic. Soon, tons of those Oddish joined them, and then Glooms replaced them, dancing about. The audience moved slightly further away as the Glooms started to emit a strange scent. Finally, Sun Stones were tossed upon half of them, and they evolved into bright Bellossoms, twirling about, while the other half was bestowed with Leaf Stones. Soon, the whole stage was bright and when the light dissipated, Bellossoms and Vileplumes were gracing the stage, twirling about and using Petal Dance.

"All I got was light in my photographs!" Barzini whined.

"I was so close to seeing how they evolve…" Markus muttered.

I sighed as I stood up and checked my watch. "This is why people have been complaining about teenagers making so much noise during those fancy concerts – we can't appreciate them that well…" I muttered. "Anyway, it's getting late; might as well just hang around at the entrance and wait."

* * *

After that disappointing trip to the Botanical Gardens, I headed to a shopping centre near the school. Barzini had to tend to his garden, so he went to his dorm when we reached school.

But before that…

"CHARIS!" Benjamin ran towards me, with his Gallade and Chikorita. Gally the Gallade was a womanizer; Benjamin was the reluctant trainer of the Pokémon who once tried to flirt with a teacher's Gardevoir. When his Kirlia touched a Dawn Stone in a departmental store he evolved, and Benjamin had to pay for it. He was always making Benjamin bankrupt because he touched things that weren't meant to be touched and ruined things with his sweaty palms.

Yes, Gallades do sweat. Have you even _seen _them? Pokémon games simplify so many things…

Chicky the Chikorita was feminine; another source of Benjamin's financial woes because she loved ribbons, shiny things and anything pink. She was easily hurt, especially if Benjamin were to scold her. She'd just bawl and bawl and bawl… Chicky did that during contest lessons and Benjamin had to comfort her in front of everyone.

"I NEED HELP!" he exclaimed, and he nearly fell as he stopped in front of me.

"O-Kay…what's up?"

Benjamin gulped. "Presents. I need to buy them! Hurry, to Parkway!"

* * *

Parkway was a shopping centre near to school. Loads of students went there to eat, shop, and do whatever they had to do.

We entered the gift shop, simply because I had no idea what Xenny liked. Chicky knocked into a large Chansey plushie, and whimpered as she scurried back to Skittles. The Delcatty seemed to act as a motherly figure to the Chikorita, for some strange reason.

"Anything?" I asked, picking up a picture frame filled with Horseas and seashells.

Benjamin didn't say anything, simply shook his head forlornly. "Nothing for my dear Xenny…" Then he snapped, "You're a girl; you should know what I need! A Pikachu doll, a Celfairy clock, a Bellossom hairclip?"

"Do I _look _like I wear hairclips?" I retorted back. I sighed, as I thought of my collection of dolls back at home, in a place not even Barzini knows. "What about we go to the accessory shop, yeah?"

* * *

Chamelon was an accessory shop. It had hair clips, hair bands, fake hair, nail polish, and all those stuff you find in a typical girly girl's bedroom. We both browsed through the endless shelves of stuff, trying to find a suitable gift for Xenny. Chicky took the liberty of holding a basket, and by the time we went through the first shelf, the basket was half-full, and Benjamin, Skittles, Firaga and myself had to coax the Chikorita to put them back.

Gally didn't bother, for he refused to step into the shop, so there we were, making a huge ruckus.

"Chicky, _please _put it back!" Benjamin cooed, almost too sweetly.

"Meow!" The Delcatty chirped. She sounded encouraging, but whether she was helping or not, I wasn't very sure.

"CHAR!" Firaga snapped, glaring at Chicky.

"Stop it, Firaga! Shush!" I scolded, but it was far too late. Chicky's eyes had started to well up. She sniffled a little, and then it hit us like a deadly tidal wave – she started to wail, and bawl her eyes out.

It was so painful Firaga ran out of the shop.

Skittles narrowed her eyes, her ears lowering closer to her head as Benjamin fell back and knocked over a bunch of rather fragile-looking nail polish. Within seconds, we found ourselves splattered with disgustingly garish red liquid pouring down our faces. Ironically, there were none on my fingernails.

"HELP USSSS!" Benjamin shouted out, though it sounded like no one heard him. The Chikorita started to wreck havoc in the shop, unleashing powerful Vine Whips that lashed out at innocent Pokémon and patrons. The Pokémon in charge of the shop, a rather mean-looking Purugly, ran up and attempted a Slash attack, but before she could even reach Chicky, a Vine Whip had taken her by force. The Purugly slammed against the counter, knocked out.

No wonder Benjamin's grades fluctuate. The Chikorita had some strength there. But then again, she needed to be provoked to attack that way.

"Blossom, use Sweet Scent!" someone called out. "Gucci's Cheeky!"

A Roselia appeared from behind the shelf. She unleashed a scent that smelled of…grass. Instantly, Chicky fell silent and stopped in her tracks, taking in the aroma. She dropped the basket of accessories, and Benjamin seized the opportunity to put them all back. He sighed, looking at the mess Chicky made.

The Roselia sauntered over to the Purugly and unleashed a foul smell that made the Pokémon jump up, as alert as ever. Just then, the owner of the Purugly came out, this time with a Floatzel wearing a bracelet. "You'll have to pay for all this!" she snapped angrily, and the Floatzel used Water Gun at Chicky before the two walked back into the back of the shop.

Benjamin looked around and groaned. "Now how am I supposed to pay for all this?"

Chicky, looking apologetic, sidled up to Benjamin, rubbing against his leg affectionately. He sighed; did he have much of a choice?

"Hey, so how's Chikorita over there?" We both glanced at the Roselia's trainer. She was wearing purple tinted glasses, and had cool highlights in her brown hair, which was shoulder-length. I noticed that her hair was adorned with a few hair accessories.

"Not bad, she's calmer now…" Benjamin replied. "You're Elena Bloom, right? I've seen you at the library every time I go there!"

Elena laughed. "Yeah, I like the library! It's big, comfy, and with books that don't fall apart!"

I thought of a book I borrowed at a National Library near my place. I put it back because I hated torn books; I went for the new arrivals.

"I completely agree with you…" I said, smiling. "Your Roselia's pretty cool. How does she make all that scent?"

Elena looked at Blossom, her Roselia, and smiled. "I bring her around those perfume shops and let her smell the different scents. It's better than buying Chanel perfumes; I have variety and it's for free!"

"Rose!" Blossom agreed, as she flitted over to Chicky, who was looking at more hair accessories. They both admired them together; talking over…I'm not very sure what.

"Piplup!" Just then, her Piplup popped out from behind a shelf, and he ran over to her side, eyeing us nervously.

"He's Aquabub. He's really paranoid over anything small, so don't mind him!" Elena chirped. I watched Skittles approach him with a friendly smile. The Piplup retaliated with a powerful Water Gun that sent the Delcatty flying out of the shop and into Firaga.

Before we could introduce our Pokémon, the same woman stormed out of the secret door next to the cashier and handed Benjamin a note. He read it, and then gasped in horror, his eyes widening. "$3000? I can't pay _this _much!"

"Well, you destroyed all the nail polish. Since they were so unpopular, no one bought them, and they were selling at 3 for 10 dollars. You broke all 300 of them, so that's that. Also, it's not exactly $3000, I'm also charging you for damages to the shelves and products _and_ our poor customers!"

She pointed to a distraught woman, her hair messed up, sobbing frantically. There was a hole through the wall, and the handbag she held had the exact same hole. Her Ampharos was trying to console her, and when the Pokémon caught us staring, she shot us a ferocious glare.

Another had accessories hanging all over her woolen jacket, and she was trying to yank it all off. The Kricketune beside her was humming a soft, sad tune that made her cry while pulling out the hair clips. She was a complete mess.

And that is what Pokémon games missed out again.

"Look, hey, Benjamin, we can all put in some of our scholarship money together! You both were in the top 5 percent, right?" Elena asked. "Well, that means we all got at least $500 bucks…and we earned three years' worth of scholarships…"

"Woah, woah! How do you _know _all this?" I asked incredulously. I _did _get a scholarship, thrice. And so did Benjamin, because our marks were pretty close.

The Edusave Awards, to be exact. I considered them scholarship money. Basically, for being in the top percentage of students, you get some cool money and a certificate. They've been increasing the amount given every year, and naturally, over a span of three years I forgot how much I earned in total.

"I did my research. ANYWAY, if we contribute a little, and if Benjamin works here…you could pay everything off by the end of this month, _with _extra cash!" Elena concluded, keeping her calculator back in her bag. "I also have a discount card…can we use it?"

We all looked at the angry lady with her Purugly and Floatzel. All three of them huffed simultaneously, and the lady angrily snatched Elena's discount card, growled at it, scowled at us, and then stormed back.

I rolled my eyes, and turned to Elena. "Thanks a bunch!" I exclaimed. "So now we have…a 20% discount!"

"And if you broke them on my birthday month, we'd get 50% off! Plus a free accessory for every $100 spent or broken!"

I like Elena already.

"Anyway, Benjamin needs to buy an accessory for his girlfriend," I explained, and I smield sheepishly, "but I'm horrible at this, so mind if you help us out?"

"Sure thing! Xenny, right? She has an interesting hairstyle! Not many can pull off a bob like her!" Elena grinned and started browsing the intact shelves, while Benjamin searched the floor; he was going to pay for all the things anyway, so why not take the ones that weren't mangled?

Chicky was picking through it as well. Skittles looked up at me with a gleeful smile and I sighed. "Okay, okay, you can pick them…" Happily, the Delcatty started to rummage the heap for something to bring home.

Firaga entered the shop again, apologized to Chicky, and then he walked up to Aquabub. They both started to chat with each other, all while watching us look around for a nice clip or a hairband for Xenny.

* * *

"Thanks, Elena! You're my saviour!" Benjamin exclaimed, and Chicky nodded eagerly, with a pretty bow around her large leaf stalk on her head. "Now I can give this to her!"

"No problem! But…I'm sort of curious; what special occasion is it?" Elena asked, as she collected her new hair accessories as well. She even helped me pick out a few hair clips and a rubber band for my sister and I. "Your anniversary?"

"Uh…actually, I'm celebrating a week _after _my anniversary!" Benjamin admitted, smiling to himself. "Xenny means a lot to me, so it's only natural I try and show it! ...Though, maybe I should stick to handmade cards…"

"…You have _got _to be kidding me." I mumbled to myself.

"Well, that's pretty sweet of you…" Elena commented, taking out her new clip. She picked up a stray lock of her hair and pinned it down neatly. "Not many guys do that, you know…she's lucky. I can give you some perfume, if you want. I sell perfumes made by Blossom, so you can always buy some of Gucci's Cheeky for Chicky, in case she ever does that again… "

She checked her bag for a moment, and then picked out a heart-shaped glass container, complete with a nozzle for spraying. It was already filled with water, and Elena tested the spray first before summoning her Roselia. "Hey, Blossom, one Gucci's Cheeky for Chicky…and maybe an Anna Sui scent for Xenny?"

She then took out a similar bottle. Blossom raised both of her arms, aiming at the bottles, and then she released two distinctly different scents. They mixed into their respective bottle, forming two different colours. The Anna Sui solution was now a light pink, while Cheeky was green.

Chicky took the Gucci perfume and sniffed it, before crying out in excitement. "Chi_ko_!" she squealed.

Elena handed the last bottle to Benjamin. "To Xenny, from Benjamin; a perfume from Anna Sui. Take it; it's your first complimentary bottle."

Benjamin grinned. "I can give this? Wow, thanks!" Then, he checked his watch, and frowned. "Well, I need to get back to my studying. Heading to the library again, Elena?"

"Yeah, but first, I have to get some food for Aquabub and Blossom…" Elena said, as Aquabub grinned.

"Pip!"

"And you, Charis?" Benjamin queried.

"Me...I guess I'm gonna head home!" I shrugged. "Besides, I heard that my mum is renting out a room to a fresh grad from Lanseal…so we have to help out a bit with the room."

I didn't know much about the man moving in, but Mum said he was a nice guy who was slightly older than me; apparently a very promising bright spark with tough Pokémon to boot. Dad said that she took him in because he played her favourite soundtrack from the Korean Drama Marry Me, Mary! Which I really, _really _love, and the soundtrack is done by TRAX, which I also love, because they sang 'Oh! My Goddess' and it was so awesome because they had Seohyun from Girls' Generation.

Also, one of the members had a wicked Gliscor. I saw them in a Korean Pokémon Musical and TRAX was _so _cool and-

I should stop about TRAX. Yes, I should.

Anyway, his name is Harley Reed or something, and Mum said he's willing to tutor us until he finds a job. Because of his guitar skill and the fact that he _may _be a distant cousin of mine, she's letting him stay for a month without paying, and that should be enough time for him to get a job.

Oh well. Here's to studying, I guess.

…perhaps after my Korean drama.

* * *

**YAY DONE. Okay, about the OC thing, if you're still reading this, Barzini has requested that we stop OCs. But I think I can accept OCs provided they are interesting. Also, please make sure you do not have any repeat Pokémon. You have no idea how many Eevees and Riolus were requested. If you really really want to put in an OC, make them interesting; if they are they may be recurring characters, but if it's completely undetailed I may just add you into one chapter only. If you have repeat Pokémon and if your OC is boring, I won't even bother to write you in. **

**Also, please do review and give us some ideas about a few aspects of life you're interested in, like if they import Pokémon as domestic helpers, and other things. Because I don't want every review to be an OC request.  
**

**And seriously, I'm looking for anyone willing to pair up with the OCs, Charis and Barzini. Wait, _especially _Barzini. To those who had their OCs already featured, you can even create your own boyfriend/girlfriend! In fact, one of my close friends made one for himself. **

**OCs featured so far: Charis, Barzini, Rex, Jayden, Markus, Malik, Benjamin, Xenny, Keven, Kishon, Aydan, Elena, Harley, Cole, Lila, and I think that's about all.**

**You can really, really be their stalker. Or fan. Or hyperactive best friend. Or soul mate. Or enemy. Or stalker.  
**

**EVEN BARZINI HAS AGREED. Up for grabs, 1 boyfriend for Charis, 1 girlfriend for Barzini. I don't really care about Barzini's girlfriend, but I will make sure my boyfriend/crush is top notch. You must have the Korean Man Physique (KMP) and the looks. I particularly like Roxas and Asakura Hao from Kingdom Hearts and Shaman King respectively, but I don't think any school in Singapore would accept a boy in long hair; they'd bring in their barber and cut it short to their liking (it really happens) unless it's poly, I guess.**

**Edit: Barzini wants a pretty girlfriend. Skinny, blonde/brunette/black-haired.  
**

**REVIEW!  
**


	4. Surprise, Surprise: Barzini's POV

"Charis? Please stop watching that Korean Drama please...there are 5 excited people waiting for you here..." I said rather impatiently.

"Wait...sniff...he is just...so handsome..." came the muffled reply.

Jayden, Elena, Harley, Cole and I have been sitting here for about 45 minutes, and have drank at least 4 cups of tea while waiting, served by a Medicham, who looked rather tired and kept looking at the stairs leading to Charis's room.

"Patience, Barzini...I'm sure it's only a while longer...I think...right?" came Elena's reply, although from my inference skills, I could _infer that_ her _patience _was also coming to an end.

Take _that_, Social Studies.

Hey...you can hardly blame us...Korean Dramas ARE long-winded and lousy...

Suddenly, an idea came to my head, evil, but nonetheless, brilliant. "Medicham, where is the antenna?"

Medicham took me outside of the house and pointed at the roof. An antenna was sticking out of it.

"Thank you..." and he went back into the house.

I checked the surroundings, no one around. Good.

I took out Silvan from my backpack, and whispered to it. "You see that antenna? Freeze it. You only get one shot..."

Silvan nodded and shot at the roof a jet of ice, which wrapped itself around the antenna, and froze.

I quickly stuffed Silvan into the bag and hastily returned to the living room, where Jayden was about to ask me where I had went, when a demented scream came from upstairs.

"Nooo! GEUN SUK! My idol! Don't leave me! DID YOU KISS MAE-RI? OH, MAE-RI! WHY CAN'T YOU HAVE BOTH GUYS?"

Jayden sprung up and ran upstairs, while I winked at Medicham, which was grinning.

Minutes later, Jayden came down with Charis, whose eye was still red, with Skittles and Firaga following close behind, looking slightly exasperated.

…Was that Delcatty _crying_?

"Let...sniff...let's go...?" Charis asked, and then she plopped her head on Jayden's shoulder, sobbing.

I nodded and gestured for them to go out first while I checked my equipment. At the same time, I beckoned for the Medicham to come closer.

"Mmh...No need to fix the antenna...it's only frozen..."

Following that, I hurried after them, the bag slung on one shoulder.

Xxx

"Alright guys... We all don't have a Pokémon that is able to fly… so let's get in my car…"

The Peugeot Cub, an environmentally-car, was fortunately able to sit 6 people, so we took a long drive into the outskirts of Singapore, where there was a huge field with a wall constructed around it, worthy of medieval times.

"You have no idea how Singapore gets its land…" Charis muttered, and Markus looked excited, looking around and trying to figure out if it was reclaimed.

"A-Amazing…" Elena stuttered.

Meanwhile, Cole was flirting with the 3 girls, apparently oblivious to the fact that Markus and I were sniggering beside him.

Then suddenly, Cole turned to Jayden, "Hey…you think we should get together one day and…ya know…"

Jayden's face turned bright red and delivered an upper-cut to the defenseless Cole.

All the guys burst out laughing, and Jayden's voice turned dangerously sweet, "Yes…? _BARZINI_?"

I coughed and kept quiet at once, because I do not want to die from strangulation, especially at the hands of a girl. Charis would laugh and I wouldn't have a funeral.

When we reached the Safari Zone, we were awed. Its entrance looked more like one for a mansion. A huge metal gate opened as my car drove in, and pillars, countless of them lined the road I drove in. On top of it sat a statue of a Pokéball.

As we reached a building, we got off after I parked my car and a Machoke helped carry my car into the right position, with me keeping a wary eye on it of course!

Then as I went in, I gave the 5 tickets to my company and told them to go ahead and wait for me first, while I gathered the equipment for our little adventure later.

As they proceeded to the youth gates, I headed up to the counter, and asked, "I heard that for youths our age, we can bring only one Pokémon in? And you folks would give us equipment?"

The young lady smiled and nodded, before she beckoned me to follow.

We entered a steel-reinforced room and it looked like a Cold War era bunker.

She said, "Here take these rifles; of course, they are loaded with sedatives that merely put them to sleep if they're hit, and are you people camping?"

My eyes fell wide open, and said, "CAMPING? You can camp in the Safari Zone?"

She shrugged and forced out a smile. "You can…for an extra price of course…we'll give you more ammunition and some supplies to last the night. It's an extra thousand dollars each…but I doubt you can afford it, _kid_."She added the very unnecessary word at the end.

Her eyes widened with surprise when I produced 6000 dollars from my wallet, and proudly showed off (subtly, of course) that I was left with a thick wad of cash inside.

I took all the equipment and left the room, before entering the Youth Zone.

Okay, just to clear things up, the Safari zone isn't an area limited to 900 steps. It is to be done at your leisure, but you may or may not spend the night there. Also, you can obviously bait Pokémon to your location, but you can choose to make it fall asleep for an easy catch, or use your Pokémon to get you out of trouble, not throw a pebble at it. Imagine you doing this to a Tauros; maybe if you'd like to head for the hospital, or just die.

As I returned to an extremely impatient crowd, (Boy…I just paid 6000 bucks and they are so unappreciative) "Here takes these guns and these Safari backpacks, 'cause we're camping for the night…"

Markus took a bag, and he eagerly started to talk. "Hey, Barzini, did you hear? The Elite zone beside us has this weird temple in it? Have you heard?"

"Yes. The Guardian Temple, where Celebi resides in, the Protector of the Forest…It's only a _myth_ Markus…the sort of thing in Aesop's Fables?" Charis retorted. She was always a skeptic. How sweet.

"What I hate about people are those with small and narrow minds…such as yourself, Charis." Markus rebutted.

Charis's face turned bright red and as she opened her mouth, I quickly got in between them, and said, "Please fellas… we're hunting Pokémon, not each other."

The boy didn't relent. "I'll prove it!"

Markus suddenly turned around and ran towards the fence. He leapt over it, effectively entering the Elite Zone.

"HEY! Markus! The Principal will murder me if something happens to you!" and I took off after him.

Jayden looked helplessly at us running across the field, and she turned around and looked at the girls.

Charis and Elena both shook her heads, and Cole was looking fondly at the two, oblivious to anyone around him, and especially to the fact that the girls had formed a clear gap away from him. "GAAH! I am going to _snap _their _necks_ when I get to them!" she cried out in anger, and Jayden took off after us.

When I finally caught up with Markus, Jayden was only metres away from us (athletic girl).

"ARE YOU INSANE?" two voices asking the exact same thing called. One from me directing it at Markus, and another from Jayden, leveling it at me.

Markus, took out a map and examined it, completely ignoring us. I exchanged glances with Jayden and I sighed.

"Oh stop squabbling… You're good at martial arts but it won't work in the Elite Zones…Take this…" I threw Jayden a sedative rifle, and laid one beside Markus.

"What..? We should get out of here now! Like..oh, I don't know, maybe _right now_!" sputtered Jayden.

"Very funny Jayden…You'd think I'd run all this distance and leave without seeing anything?" I retorted, slightly raising my rifle in case she tried a spinning kick on me.

"Alright! The Guardian Temple is this way…" Markus drew himself up and walked into the forest, with me following behind and Jayden, after a moment's hesitation, following in behind.

I quickened my pace so that I could walk side by side with Markus, "Markus, if I were you, I'd choose a shortcut…A safe one of course…The Elite territory really has…_Elite Pokémon._." Markus nodded and I faltered, and slowed my pace to walk beside Jayden.

Jayden whispered to me, "You're sure it's safe right?"

"Trust me, I do not know myself."

Xxx

Suddenly, Markus stopped and bent down, and he touched the ground. Jayden and I were standing behind Markus, anxiously looking around.

Suddenly, Markus started to back away, and slung his rifle to the front. His voice trembling, he announced to both of us, "I am sorry fellas, but it appears like I've followed the wrong trail. We are now in hostile territory."

I looked at Jayden and said calmly, "What?"

"I said that we're in hostile territory."

"You're kidding. You aced geography!"

"That doesn't mean anything!"

"Erm, Barzini…" Jayden's voice from behind sounded.

"Quiet, Jayden. You ARE kidding right?"

"Absolutely not. In fact, I dare you to slobber yourself with honey and see who comes bulldozing after your meat!"

"BARZINI!" Jayden's voice raised slightly higher near to the scream-whisper kind.

"WHAT!" I turned around in annoyance and was faced with a lovely sight.

A troop of Rhydons were staring at us.

Suddenly, Markus screamed and ran deeper into the forest, quickly leaving Jayden and me behind.

Jayden and I came closer to each other. Whimpering and shaking, she leveled her rifle and shot at the first Rhydon, the biggest of them all, before I could pull her rifle down and caution her.

Then, came a loud cry from the Staraptors in front of us, and a loud scream from both of us as we thundered to the direction where Markus had vanished to.

"RUNN!" Jayden screamed.

I sprinted after her, still painfully conscious of the fact that Rhyhorns were catching up with me, with Rhydons not far behind either. Suddenly, the sounds of the stampede stopped, and as I continued running, I looked behind me to find out that they had stopped, and were looking at me from afar, with a look on their faces; was it fear?

HECK! WHO CARES!

My heart felt lighter, and surprisingly the trees and grasses here look greener. At last, I found Markus and Jayden, catching their breath in front of an old small shrine-like structure, however, it certainly did not look grand like what was pictured in my mind.

I took out my camera, and tried to take a photo, but as I was about to take a photo, the camera vanished, and it took me about 10 seconds for me to comprehend what had happened.

"G-Guys…my camera…it's gone…"

"Gone? What do you mean gone?" Jayden asked in a still-slightly-out-of-breathe tone.

Finally, when I finished explaining to them both, Markus raised his hand to my forehead,

"The Rhydon shock hasn't worn off yet?"

I was about to retort when my common sense started to tell me such things could not happen, and finally flopped down and laid onto the grass.

"Bi~"

"Waa? You guys hear that?" I sat bolt upright.

Jayden and Markus exchanged looks and ignored me. I was about to open my mouth and retaliate when Jayden complained, "I'm hungry…could be my stomach…"

I suddenly felt the burden of my bag, as if I had not been carrying it for a long time and laughed.

I took out a picnic cloth and laid down poffins, made by berries from yours truly.

Jayden looked skeptical, but as soon as she took a bite, her eyes widened and she started taking it in with big bites.

I laughed a merry laugh, until I felt a tap at my back, and I offered a poffin to my side.

"Bi~" the Pokémon chirped happily

It took me about a minute for me to recover from merry making and look around, and saw a tiny creature, green in colour with blue eyes.

By now, Silvan, my Dratini, Seishin, Jayden's Kirlia and Twigs, Markus' Turtwig had surrounded the creature completely blocked from view from my human companions by my body.

I coughed, and moved aside, to witness Jayden and Markus dropping their poffins and staring at the green creature.

"But that's…"Markus started.

The green Pokémon drifted towards me, and poked me, and pointed at whatever's left of the Sitrus poffin, and said happily, "Bi~".

I felt a surge of pride that a legendary Pokémon would enjoy my poffins so much, and I

offered it an Oran poffin.

It accepted it happily and sat in the centre of the picnic cloth, as if nothing had happened.

I suddenly got suspicious and asked it, "Did you…teleport my camera…?"

It suddenly laughed, "Bi~Bi~Bi~" and as it flicked its fingers, the camera fell into my lap.

"Would you mind if I… take a photo?"

"Bi~" it said happily, and I set my camera up on a tripod and timed it.

Silvan, Twigs and Seishin got together behind Celebi, and we squatted down behind them. "Okay, three…two…one…!"

I checked my camera, and was glad to see that the picture was inside.

"Bi~" it said cheerfully and pointed at my bag.

I opened it and took out its contents - poffins, sleeping bags, fishing rods and jars of berries.

Celebi pointed happily at the Enigma berry jar. I opened it and left it so, as it was happily helping itself to the lot.

Soon, Jayden and Markus sat in closer and we started to talk to each other as if the Celebi did not exist at all, and there were little interruptions unless our Pokémon, or Celebi bugged me to give it another poffin or to open another berry jar.

Then, we started to play Pokémon Uno, for Jayden brought it along, and as we were playing, Celebi looked curiously at us before sitting on top of Markus's head to look at the game.

Suddenly, Charis's voice sounded, "Barzini! Jay! Mark!"

Celebi looked upright and suddenly descended into our centre, and waved to all of us, and disappeared in a flash of light.

As Celebi disappeared, a berry appeared in my hands, one that I have never seen before, even Markus knows nothing of it.

I checked my camera, and to my relief, the picture was still there, Celebi holding a poffin cheerfully.

Then, Charis, Elena and Cole appeared and looked at us as we stuttered and explained to them that we HAVE seen CELEBI.

Cole snorted and said, "You're only trying to impress the ladies…Man, you need more skill than that, guys…"

Charis sat down beside me, and said, "You guys are dreaming…it's not..."

I showed her the picture.

"…POSSIBLE?" she yelped.

Elena and Cole gathered behind her and looked at the camera in surprise to exchange bewildered looks.

Triumphantly, I took my camera back.

"Barzini…" Jayden's voice started.

"Yes?"

"Your poffins…disappeared…"

I looked around in surprise to see that the jars of poffins had indeed vanished, and so were some of my berry jars.

I held the berry that Celebi gave to me close by my heart, not caring about whatever the Pokémon had done.

"Bless you, Celebi."

* * *

**This was (almost) ENTIRELY DONE BY BARZINI! -claps appreciatively-**

**Okay, I edited the content, like the one where I scream for a certain Korean hunk I do not have feelings for and whose name I shall never reveal. **

**Next chapter will be Charis' version of the events in the Safari. We finally settled on a plot (though I just ignored Barzini regarding the plot via MSN; I plan to reply him) and we're going to start it soon.**

**OCs are still accepted; Barzini's crush has been decided (something about Lord of The Rings...) so we're still scouting for hot men for Charis. :D**

**So...HAPPY NEW YEAR! (I published this 2 hours before Singapore's New Year)  
**


	5. SurpriseNOT: Charis' POV

**THIS IS CHARIS' POV FOR THE SAFARI!  
**

* * *

Elena and I watched as Jayden disappeared into the thick bushes.

"Uh…do we…?" Elena asked hesitantly.

"If we _do _go after them, aren't we doomed in some way?" I replied.

Cole simply yawned. "We wouldn't _die _or anything…!" he said dismissively. "Besides, we have Renegade here!"

We all looked at the Onix, peering curiously above the short trees. He was rather short for an Onix, but still. One Charmeleon and one Piplup stacked on top on one another was nothing compared to Renegade.

Firaga rolled his eyes, and Aquabub shook his head. At least _some _Pokémon have more common sense than Markus…

The six of us simply watched the bushes, hoping that soon, they would appear from there unscathed…or alive.

"Are you absolutely _sure_ we shouldn't go in?" Elena asked again.

"It'd be fun!" Cole chimed in.

"There's a huge difference between fun and death, Cole!" Elena snapped back.

I didn't exactly know how Cole got one of Barzini's Safari tickets, but all I knew was that he handed me two tickets, so naturally I invited two girls – Jayden and Elena. I guess Cole stalked Barzini until he gave up.

"Maybe…as long as we stick together?" I ventured. "It's the Elite Zone, yes, but there's three of us. Plus, Renegade may be able to intimidate some Pokémon. If we really get chased, we can always hop on Renegade and run away…"

Renegade huffed, and then he nodded. He was short, but they may be scared.

Elena thought about it, and then she grinned. "Awesome. Kick some butt, gain experience, save the day!"

* * *

We snuck into the Elite Zone once Cole had 'established good relations' with the female guard nearby. He soon joined us, blushing and smiling sheepishly.

"Good, we're here…" I mumbled, looking around us. Firaga's eyes narrowed and his fur bristled.

Aquabub was also rather tense. He glared at the ground, and the Piplup was shaking slightly.

Even Renegade had lowered his head, his eyes darting about nervously. "Rowr…" he grumbled.

Elena shivered. "It's sort of…tense in here, huh?" She commented, and then she laughed nervously, pushing away a stray lock of hair.

"Oh, come _on _guys! It'll be cool!" Cole reassured all of us, with only Renegade looking slightly more relaxed. "Besides, what could possibly happen?"

He walked up to a tree slathered with honey, touching it, and then defiantly tasting it. Cole then scooped a handful of honey and dumped it on his face. "You see? There is absolutely nothi-"

"Hurry, Firaga, flamethrower!" I screamed as two Heracross appeared, looking rather upset and hungry.

Cole yelped in horror and ducked down as the Charmeleon leapt in front of him and hit them both with Flamethrower. Surprisingly, one of them slammed back into a tree, knocked out from the hit. The other Heracross charged in for a Close Combat, fists raised.

"Aquabub, Bubblebeam!" Elena quickly commanded. The Piplup launched into the battle, aiming a spray of rapidly moving bubbles against the Heracross. They hit its eyes, so it screeched loudly and flew away, bumping into a few trees.

Cole was shaking when Elena and I lifted him up. "Don't be so _stupid_!" I chided angrily, and Elena simply smacked his head.

"Okay, okay, sorry!" he replied hastily. He started to lick at his hands, which were filled with honey. "Hey…this ain't half bad…"

Cole stuck a finger and ran it over his forehead, before proudly showing it. "You girls want a taste?"

He was met with a very harsh Slash from a very flustered Charmeleon. Then a very upset Piplup bit his finger.

"…Let's just go before we attract anymore attention…" I muttered.

Elena examined the surroundings carefully. "Maybe…we should try walking first. Then we'll see what next." She looked at Firaga thoughtfully. "Can you burn a small spot right here?"

Firaga cocked his head, and then he looked at me for approval. I realized what she was trying to do and I nodded. He threw his head backwards and launched a strong Ember that charred a rather modest-looking spot in the grass.

"Good! That means if we ever get lost, we just need to find this spot." I announced, before I heard rustling in the bushes near us. A Sandslash appeared, looking cross. Soon, a few more Sandslash appeared, sharpening their claws and watching our every move. Firaga and Aquabub stood in position, but as their numbers grew Aquabub retreated backwards, and Firaga cautiously followed, growling back at the Sandslash.

Renegade watched the Sandslash group quietly, as they slowly approached us. He growled at them.

I glanced at Elena, who was observing the Sandslash carefully. She was also smiling slightly; we could easily stun the Sandslash with Bubblebeam, and then run for it.

"Aquabub, Bubblebeam!" Elena screamed, as Cole returned Renegade to his Pokéball to avoid detection.

The Piplup jumped up and launched a rush of bubbles that hit most of the Sandslash. Elena ran towards Aquabub and scooped him in her arms, before she backed away and ran off, with Aquabub still launching Bubblebeam so they would be confused enough.

True enough, some of them really _did _get confused. A few Sandslash attacked others with Slash, and since they were so close to each other, some of them were knocked out, both by Bubblebeam and the other Sandslash, which was pretty crazy.

"Firaga, let's go!" I yelled out, and the Charmeleon ran away, launching a few Flamethrowers to throw them off.

I knew it. He couldn't pass off the opportunity to attack…

We ran along a small path and cut through the forest, and we were screaming because, well there was adrenaline in our blood and there was nothing we could do about it. As we ran, Firaga and Aquabub attacked from afar whenever they saw any Pokémon who noticed us. When Staraptors came about, Aquabub surprisingly attacked with Ice Beam. Firaga leapt up with a cool Fire Spin (his Contest Move) and then hit all of them with ThunderPunch (an attacking move) before landing down with another Fire Spin to defend himself.

Cole released his Onix, who literally shrugged off any Pokémon, though he was weakening as the Staraptors attacked with Aerial Ace. Finally, one Staraptor decided to hit Renegade with Close Combat. His wings glowed a threatening white and he had his talons outstretched as he dived in for the fatal blow.

I noticed that the Staraptor curved his talons in, such that it resembled two fists, and he rammed against the Onix, who screeched and reeled backwards, knocking into a tree, completely exhausted and unable to move an inch. "Rorr…" he groaned as he faded into unconsciousness.

"Damn!" Cole cursed, as he ran up to Renegade. "You did your best, Renegade, so chill out now, yeah?" He slipped an Oran Berry into Renegade's mouth before returning him into his Pokéball.

"I see light!" I pointed at the opening between the trees. "Hurry!"

We all burst out of the forest, huffing and scanning the area hurriedly for any threats. Firaga groaned as he threw himself onto the ground, grumbling to himself. Aquabub plopped down next to him, looking upset and tired as well.

I rummaged my bag for the Sitrus Berries I stole from Barzini's garden, and handed two of them to Firaga and Aquabub. They practically swallowed the berry. The Charmeleon patted his stomach contently, smiling to himself.

Elena crawled over to her Piplup. "Aquabub, you okay?"

"Piplup!" he replied, nodding at her.

"Gosh, thank _goodness-_"

"Oh, you're from the Lanseal Academy, am I correct?"

We all turned around, and I saw the man who was supposed to be staying at my place and entertaining my mum with Korean pop tunes – Harley Reed. He was sitting on top of his Arcanine, who was eyeing us suspiciously.

He looked at me, and I saw a flash of recognition cross his face. "Woah, you're the kid who lives in the same house as me, right?"

"Actually, it's _my _house…" I mumbled. I would've launched into a whole tirade of arguments, but I was tired, and so was everyone else.

Cole jumped up and pointed at him angrily. "Dude, _I'm _the Prince Charming here, not _you _and your Arcanine here! I have an Onix! I'll be the Prince in Shining Armour, and he'll be my Onix in White! Not you and your-"

Within seconds, Harley was standing instead of sitting on his Arcanine, and said Arcanine was now on top of Cole, snarling at him.

"Jupiter, calm down. He's just…" Harley trailed off, thinking of a suitable word that would fit Cole.

Elena and I snickered and exchanged amused glances.

"I know you…um, Charis, right?" Harley asked, as Jupiter slowly backed away from Cole, glaring at him fiercely. Cole raised his hands hesitantly, hoping that the Arcanine would stop by showing defeat.

"Yup, that's me…and she's Elena Bloom. He's Cole Harding." I introduced, flashing a grin. Cole smiled and waved, only to resume raising his hands high in the air when the Arcanine growled at him, and Elena grinned, pushing up her glasses.

"I'm Harley Reed, and he's Jupiter…plus, my Lapras, Neptune…" he said, as he launched the Pokéball in the air, releasing a lovely Lapras who smiled at us. Jupiter simply bowed his head, and barked when Cole tried to move towards the friendlier Lapras.

"I remember…you can carry a maximum of six Pokémon here, right?" Elena asked, as she went up to pat the Lapras. Aquabub ran up to Neptune as well, looking up at the majestic Pokémon. Neptune bowed her head, such that she was level with the Piplup, and nudged him playfully.

Meanwhile, Firaga stood next to the Arcanine, talking to Jupiter animatedly. The Arcanine suddenly snorted, and smirked at Cole, who widened his eyes in horror. Firaga simply sniggered in response, giving me a thumbs-up.

Must've been due to the day Cole tried to flirt with me and Firaga scratched him in the face.

"That's true…though these two are the only ones I have so far." Harley nodded at Neptune, who simply rolled her eyes and continued to tease the very flustered Piplup with nudges. "I just graduated, you see, and I'm waiting for my results, so I can get back to work. I was a Lanseal graduate before!"

Before we could reply, a team of Swalots appeared before us, and one of them had picked up Cole's entire backpack, sniffing it for a while. Before any of us could react, he swallowed it.

"MY FOOD!" Cole cried out, throwing himself at the Swalot. The Swalot who swallowed his backpack moved backwards, and the remaining Swalots crowded around, blocking him from view. Cole released his Onix, and then he took out a Sitrus Berry from my backpack. "Take this, Renegade!"

The Onix swallowed the Berry, and then he swept the Swalots aside by swinging an Iron Tail at them. They were thrown off, landing several metres away.

Harley motioned for his Lapras to get into position. "Neptune, Surf!"

Neptune launched itself into the air, and then created a huge wave that moved towards the Swalots. Remnants of Surf could be seen by the puddles of water left behind.

Neptune guided the wave towards the Swalots, who tried to run, before stopping the rush of water. Immediately, the wave crashed down upon the Swalots. When the water subsided, the Swalots retreated back into the forest.

Cole was officially distraught. "My food…Renegade, we'll starve!" he cried, clutching his chest dramatically. Renegade rolled his eyes.

"Hey…Cole, you did it! You opened a Pokéball!" Elena cheered, pointing to the Pokéball on the ground.

Yes, you actually have to pick up your Pokéball.

Cole stared at his Pokéball. "…Oh yeah!" He punched his fist in the air. "I rock!"

Harley rolled his eyes, and then he looked up at the dark skies. "I have to leave the Safari now. A lot of ghost Pokémon out there, like Banette and Dusclops, so watch out, yeah? I would love to help out in whatever illegal things you're doing in the Elite Zone…" he gave me a knowing glance and I realized that I could be blackmailed by him, "but either way I can't hand you Jupiter or Neptune to help out, and I can't stay here any longer because I'm not prepared for an overnight stay. So long, girls…"

Harley then turned to Cole. "Oh, and you too. See you." With that, he recalled his Lapras, jumped on Jupiter's back, and ran off.

The three of us sat there at the clearing, before Elena shivered. "Gosh, it's getting cold."

"Want a hu-" he was cut off by Firaga smacking him in annoyance.

"We should move before the Pokémon attack us again." I commented, as I picked up my backpack. Firaga started to walk beside me. Elena picked up Aquabub and followed. Cole simply sat on Renegade's back and we moved along.

* * *

"Char!" Firaga perked up and started sniffing the air. He then pointed towards a few sparse bushes.

I blinked as I tried to sniff the air. There was a faint smell of fire burning…

"You smell that?" Elena asked Cole, who was half-asleep. He had been alert for quite some time, looking out for Banettes and Dusclops just in case. He stirred and then rubbed his eyes wearily, glancing about. He poked his nose up in the air, and nodded his head, before plopping back down onto Renegade, the Onix fairly tired as well. It's not that easy carrying two backpacks and one trainer…

Firaga leapt into the bushes, and we hurriedly followed him. Renegade simply crawled over the bushes.

"Barzini! Jay! Markus!" I yelled out, and the three people playing…Pokémon Uno all turned to look at me.

"Goodness, finally!" Cole literally rolled over Renegade and relaxed on the grass. Firaga and Aquabub heaved our backpacks from Renegade and handed it to us. The Onix groaned as he, too, started to lie down on the grass, falling asleep.

Elena and I plopped down on the grass, and then we realized that none of them said anything yet. Elena nudged Jayden excitedly, "So, so, how was the Elite Zone for you guys? Scary, funny, dangerously murderous, maybe even petrifyi-"

"We saw Celebi." All three of them said in unison, looking quite upset and tired.

Elena retreated back to Cole and I. "Um, did I hear you correctly?" she asked, gesturing to her ear playfully.

"You…saw _the _Celebi…is that even-"

Barzini handed me his camera, and there the mythical creature was. Though it seemed a little…vague.

"…possible…"

Cole and Elena lunged for the camera and stared hard at it. "Wow, there's Celebi!" Elena chirped excitedly. Then she sunk back into silence. "But…didn't we learn in history that Celebi can trick people into believing that they did see Celebi?"

Barzini widened his eyes. "B-But I have proof! See, this photograph-"

"It's entirely possible that you can take a photograph of a _mirage _of Celebi. Celebi doesn't appear to just _anyone_…" I pointed out. "The Celebi you saw could've been from the future…"

Elena nodded her head. "Also, Celebi appears in peaceful times, but there's the economic crisis recently…"

"Plus, Celebi leaves behind an Egg when it appears! I don't see an Egg, just a berry!" I pointed at Barzini's berry, sitting on his lap, cradled by him.

Barzini was simply staring at his berry like it was Arceus' berry. "A berry from the future…"

"And if Celebi were really here…" Markus started, frowning a little, "it would've made the forest more green…"

"And there's no difference!" Jayden finished, as she sighed. "Oh well, I knew we weren't _that _lucky…"

"But still! Now we know that maybe Celebi _does _reside here!" Cole exclaimed.

"Or any other forest at that…the Amazon Basin, Kalimantan…" Elena retorted back. She pushed up her glasses firmly.

"Well…at least now we know how Celebi acts…" Barzini spoke up finally, stroking his berry. Firaga had stolen some of his berries, and when he realized that Barzini didn't really care about them, he lugged my backpack to Barzini's side and started to shove in poffins and berries, all while eating some of his share. Aquabub soon joined him, snacking a bit and then shoving some, all while giving Firaga a worried look.

The Charmeleon simply snorted and continued to steal.

And then Barzini launched into babbling, "Celebi actually ate my poffins. I don't really care if Celebi steals them, I just feel really honoured…"

He turned to his poffins, and then saw Firaga and Aquabub cheekily smiling at him. Silvan was stuffed inside his backpack, not because the Dratini tried to stop the Charmeleon and Piplup but failed, but because Silvan was happily eating all the poffins. Barzini pulled the Dratini out, before chasing away Aquabub and Firaga. The Piplup had unfortunately left Elena's entire backpack for Barzini to take back his poffins, but Firaga was quick enough to release a miniature Smokescreen. When Barzini was able to see again, the Charmeleon was already by my side, showing off his steals.

He shot me a glare before crossing his arms. "Fine. But only because you're my senior."

"That's a good junior, Barzini!" I cheered, and I high-fived Firaga.

* * *

When morning came about, I woke up to see Firaga playing Pokémon Uno with Aquabub, Renegade, Twigs and Chikyu.

A Charmeleon, Piplup, Onix, Turtwig and Bulbasaur playing Uno. I watched them curiously as Firaga triumphantly placed a Reverse card, and the Pokémon all groaned. Silvan, who was physically incapable of holding cards and picking one out, was sleeping next to Barzini. He stirred and growled at the group of Pokémon for waking him up.

I consulted my watch. We had until 12 noon to check out of the Safari, and I woke up at 7am. If we headed back into the Normal Zone now, we would still have at least 2 hours or so before we leave.

When all the Pokémon saw me wide awake, they dumped their Uno cards and then woke their trainers up. Firaga tried to peek at Aquabub's cards, but was met with a ferocious Bubble attack from the Piplup, who then poked at Elena to wake her up.

Chikyu tackled Jayden into waking up, Silvan headbutted Barzini, Twigs nudged Markus awake, and Renegade simply roared so loudly all five of them got up in a flash.

Elena started to meticulously pin up her hair, while Jayden stretched and yawned. Barzini rolled to another side facing away from the Dratini, but then got up when Renegade poked him with his rock tail.

"So…we head back into the Normal Zone, right?" Cole asked, trying to comb his hair. Since his backpack was stolen, he slept on the grass. He picked at a few blades of grass in his hair. Markus decided to help him pull them out as well.

"Yup, and maybe we can _actually _find some decent Pokémon that _won't _kill us!" Elena added over-enthusiastically.

* * *

We managed to get to the Normal Zone, relatively unscathed. Aside from being chased from Nidokings because Renegade accidentally hit one of them when he swung his tail, everything was okay.

"Okay. Now we try and lead a normal Safari game without getting attacked by hungry Kinglers, okay?" Elena told Aquabub, who nodded vigorously. We actually found a lake, and Aquabub was the first to jump in…only to be grabbed by a Kingler residing nearby. It took us half an hour to extract the poor Piplup from Kingler's grasp, because Firaga and Renegade refused to jump into the deep waters, and Chikyu couldn't aim her Razor Leaf at Kingler, who was dodging about and having a jolly good time. When finally, Firaga ran in for a Thunderpunch, we all realized that the lake was rather shallow when the water went up to the Charmeleon's knee. Then we just attacked the stupid Kingler and ran off.

We walked into the designated path and tried to look out for some Pokémon.

"Suddenly, I wish I were in the Elite Zone, screaming at a bunch of Victreebel and running away from them…" Markus mumbled, kicking at a stone. The stone flew high up and landed straight onto the head of a Tauros.

The Tauros grunted at us angrily, and started calling for its other mates to come along. "Oh, great, Markus, look what you've done!" Elena whined, as hordes of Tauros crowded around. They started charging at us, and we started to scream as we frantically ran in all directions. I followed Firaga's tail (because I'd be dead anyway without Firaga) and in the huge confusion, the two of us found ourselves far from the others. The Tauros kicked up a lot of sand and made us all very confused…and dirty.

"Mum's gonna kill me!" I whined to myself as I started to patiently dust off the sand, muttering to myself. Firaga followed me, equally peeved.

We stood in front of a wide open field, with other people training with their Pokémon. I checked my watch; an hour to go before we had to leave the Safari.

"Maybe we should train here!" I suggested, looking hopefully at Firaga. He looked around, and then nodded in agreement.

"Let's see…we still haven't mastered Ice Punch, haven't we? Stupid TM."

TMs aren't as great as you think. They're just CDs. You put them into a computer and let the Pokémon listen to some high-frequency noise that you can't hear. Then after that you have to train them to unleash the potential that was already unlocked. It's so stupid, and Firaga hates it, but he was completely okay with the training part.

I pointed to a large rock next to us. "Okay, Firaga, try an Ice Punch there!"

"Char!" Firaga clenched his fists and shut his eyes really tight, trying to freeze his fist into a huge ball of ice. When his fist was wrapped in ice, Firaga immediately lunged for the rock.

The thing about teaching Firaga Ice punch is that the ice around his fist is highly temporary. Being a Fire Pokémon, he has rather high temperatures, and homeostasis can easily melt the ice, so if the Ice Punch has to be successful, Firaga has to do it fast.

As his fist made contact with the rock, the ice had already melted, and he smashed the rock into pieces with his bare fist. He then collided into a boy who happened to be leaning against the rock.

"YEOWCH!" he cried out, as he and Firaga fell onto the grass, crying out in pain at his swollen fist. I ran for my dear Charmeleon, ignoring the boy and his Mawile.

"Firaga! You okay?" I yelled, grabbing his claw and probing it lightly. Firaga flinched and instinctively he snatched his arm away, licking at it.

"You owe me an apology."

I turned to him, and then I realized that he was from Lanseal Academy as well. I usually saw him at the computers, teaching his Poliwhirl some new moves from the TMs, while his Mawile tested him.

"Sorry…" I mumbled, as I tended to my Charmeleon. Surprisingly, he sat down next to me, smiling a little.

"You're Charis, right? I'm Aeleus! And this is Minerva!" he greeted, and his Mawile sat down next to Firaga, looking at his fist. The Charmeleon simply sulked.

I smiled back at him. "Nice to meet you. I would ask you for a battle, but Firaga here is-"

At the word 'battle' Firaga jumped up, and showed his fist triumphantly. "CHAR!" he exclaimed, and then he grinned at Minerva who gave him an evil glint. She walked away from Firaga and positioned himself.

Aeleus grinned. "Fine by me!" He ran back towards his Mawile and gave me a thumbs-up.

I stood up, looking at Firaga, who was already swishing his tail about in delight. Guess I have no choice… "Firaga, use Flamethrower!"

"Minerva, charge in with Iron Head!"

The Mawile ducked her head low, with her jaws at the ready. They started to glow brightly, and she ran towards Firaga. She was hit head on with the Flamethrower, but she didn't take much damage.

At the last minute, Firaga leapt up to dodge her Iron Head. He dived down with a Flame Wheel.

"Minerva, stand your ground; aim your head at the skies!"

Minerva stopped in her tracks, and at the last minute her jaws glowed again, and Firaga found his head slamming against hard iron. Thankfully, Fire Spin softened his blow slightly, and Minerva took some damage.

"Charrr…" Firaga groaned, and then he shook the pain off.

"Good job, Firaga!" I cheered. "Now use Fire Punch!"

"Minerva, go head-on with Sucker Punch!"

Firaga easily engulfed his fist with white flames, while Minerva quickly darted towards the Charmeleon. As her fist almost came into contact, Firaga protected himself with his arm, and quickly jabbed Minerva with a hard-hitting Fire Punch that sent her flying.

Aeleus simply smirked. "Minerva, land on your jaw and launch yourself in the air! Use Iron Defense!"

Minerva did a backflip, landing on her jaws, and then launched herself up in the air. She coated herself with a shiny new coat of iron. The iron reflected light into Firaga's eyes, and he blocked his view with his arm.

"Now use Ancientpower!"

Minerva started to glow even brighter, causing Firaga to turn his head away. She summoned rocks from the surrounding area, surprising many patrons of the Safari, and then she spun her way downwards towards Firaga, who was still blinded.

"Firaga, to the side!" I shouted, and the Charmeleon narrowly avoided the full impact of Ancientpower. He was hit by a few of the rocks.

"Minerva, use your jaws and launch!"

He was good. The Mawile landed on her jaws again and then she hit Firaga straight on this time. The Charmeleon slammed into a rock, and he collapsed, exhausted and unable to battle anymore.

"Oh yeah!" Aeleus punched his fist into the air. "Awesome job, Minerva!"

The Mawile did a curtsy and blushed.

"That was a great battle! Congratulations!" I praised, and then beamed at Firaga, who was slightly dazed. I handed him one of the Oran berries he stole from Barzini. "You totally deserve this."

Firaga chewed on the berry and then he got up, though a little shaky. I let him dig through my bag for more berries to feast on as I turned to Aeleus, who was still grinning at me cheekily.

"What?"

"You need to give me some money~" he teased, "but I don't think I want it…"

I beamed. "Really? Oh, thanks! For a moment, I thought I was going to be bankr-"

"But I still want something!" he added, a glint in his eyes. "A kiss on the cheek?"

Firaga got so flustered he tried to scratch Aeleus, but Minerva easily blocked him. He frowned and growled.

"No way!" I declared.

"Okay, okay, I was just kidding…" he replied, laughing. "Gosh, your Charmeleon's really harsh!"

He was met with another growl from said Charmeleon. I smacked Firaga on his head lightly. "Don't be rude."

Before I could say anymore, a bell rang. The loudspeakers were everywhere; the management of the Safari kept them well hidden. Singaporeans complained about how their Pokémon or themselves nearly got deaf when they leaned on what seemed to be a tree, or sat near what seemed to be a bush. One even claimed that he tried to capture a Loudred, but it turned out to be a really loud loudspeaker.

"30 MINUTES TO 12 NOON, INVOLVED PARTICIPANTS ARE TO HEAD FOR THE MAIN ENTRANCE IMMEDIATELY OR RISK A FINE OF $300 FOR STAYING HERE TOO LONG!"

What a _fine _city Singapore is. My dad racked up tons of them for flying too quickly on Staraptor and then realizing that there were speed cameras.

I sighed. "Come on, Firaga, we got to go…Sorry about your reward, Aeleus. Just…remind me next time, yeah?"

Aeleus shrugged. "Nah, I'll pass. You'll just owe me a teensy favour. See you at school!"

Firaga and I waved goodbye before we headed back to the main entrance.

* * *

When school started the next day, I was in Pokémon Battle class, and Firaga was practicing his Ice Punch, while Skittles was dodging him as training.

Just then, our teacher called us out. He was a rather plump man who also taught us Pokémon-Human Physical Education. Though he made us run tons of laps, I couldn't see how Mr Edward managed to stay that plump.

"Okay, class, I'm splitting you into groups of three. Pokémon Knock-out matches; winner gets a hug from me!" Mr Edward called out.

Pokémon Knock-outs were fun to watch. Basically, you set a boundary, and then all six Pokémon try to knock out each other, without any commands from us. They can attack any Pokémon; Skittles once attacked Firaga with a Water Pulse and for a whole day, he ignored her because he was knocked out and Skittles was the winner.

"Lila, pair up with Kiara and Charis; come on, Pokémon Knock-out _GO_!"

Lila? Firaga and I exchanged glances. She won nearly every Knock-out battle, because her Butterfree was often underestimated. Her Butterfree would fly up into the air, completely unnoticed, and then spray all of them with Sleep Powder. Her famous French-speaking Lucario would then dodge it expertly, and then they'll both knock out every single Pokémon before attacking each other.

I spotted Kiara and went up to her. "Um, hi." I greeted, as Firaga and Skittles nodded at her Espeon and her male Nidoran.

Before she could reply (if she was going to in the first place), Lila Nola Patch went up to us. We calmly went outside the unsaid boundary, and soon, the Pokémon stepped in and started attacking.

Kiara had an Espeon named Aiedail and a male Nidoran named Spike, while Lila had her Butterfree Cutie and her Lucario, Ri.

Firaga was smart enough to jump at the Butterfree, with Fire Spin protecting him from any of the Pokémon. Skittles simply dodged the attacks that came upon her.

The Delcatty's strategy was almost always this: dodge and let the Pokémon give up on her, then wait until everyone's knocked out. By then, her final opponent would be weakened, and she would simply attack a bit more before she won. Surprisingly, she has a perfect record in Pokémon Knock-Out.

As she happily dodged the attacks, the Espeon's eyes glowed and in a flash, Skittles was sent flying into both Ri and Spike. Firaga had succeeded in tackling the Butterfree, and he quickly attacked with a Flame Wheel. Cutie responded with a Bug Buzz, but it was not strong enough to put the Charmeleon back in place. Firaga had purposely leapt up higher so that he could send Cutie hurling back into the ground, which he did so, almost flawlessly.

Spike was now trying to engage Skittles in battle, but the Delcatty ignored him. Furious, Spike attacked with Poison Jab, but Skittles dodged it easily and attacked him with Roll-Out. She almost flattened him, and then she continued her rampage, hitting almost everyone as her Roll-Out became stronger.

Firaga followed her by using Flame Wheel, and they both hit all the Pokémon. Nidoran was repeatedly rammed by Skittles and he was about to stop her with a Poison Jab when Firaga hit him out of the Knock-Out. They both joined forces and hit Cutie, who was sent flying out.

Skittles stopped her rampage and strutted to the middle of the Knock-Out ring. Ri immediately saw the opportunity to attack Skittles, but he wasn't fast enough as Skittles started to Sing.

Ri yawned, but he was alert enough to land a relatively strong Focus Punch at Skittles. She was able to stand and sang a bit more. Before long, everyone was asleep, and she started to use Roll-Out on everyone. First she attacked Ri, combining Bounce and Roll-Out until he woke up, only to be delivered the final blow. Firaga woke up as well (he was a rather light sleeper) and he geared up for a fatal Shadow Claw attack at Aiedail.

"NO! Aiedail!" Kiara suddenly cried out, and the Espeon woke up with a start. Firaga didn't bother and lunged straight for the Espeon, his claws a dark black. She retaliated with a Psybeam, which sent Firaga flying back into Skittles.

Firaga got fired up and tried to attack Aiedial, who nimbly dodged. It was a battle of speed, with Skittles sitting there, trying to nudge Ri away from the Knock-out; he was no longer an opponent.

However, Ri had only used Rest, and though he was weakened by the Delcatty's final Roll-out, he was able to knock her out with Focus Punch. Skittles slowly staggered towards me and started to groom herself, frowning.

Firaga snorted when he saw the despondent Skittles, and continued to attack Aiedail with a series of Slash. When he finally hit the Espeon, he switched straight into a flurry of Shadow Claws. Before long, Aiedail was out.

Now, it was a face-off between a Charmeleon and a French Lucario. Both were weakened but still ready to fight. I figured that one blow would finish either of them off; it was a matter of speed and who hits first.

Firaga decided to go far and launched a series of Flamethrowers. Ri dodged them expertly and then attacked with Force Palm, but Firaga managed to hold Ri's palm in place with a Fire Punch. Before Ri could retaliate, Firaga hit Ri with a Fire Punch to the face.

The Lucario reeled backwards and shook it off, and then he readied himself fairly quickly for a Focus Blast just as Firaga launched a powerful Fire Blast.

The attacks hit at the same time, and both Pokémon were knocked out simultaneously.

"WOAH!" I didn't realize it, but our Knock-Out took the longest and everyone had crowded around us. They were watching the whole thing, all this while.

Aeleus patted me on the back, taking me by surprise. "Awesome fight!"

Kiara was carrying Spike and she smiled at me. "You have a cool Charmeleon…" she whispered. Spike snorted and huffed, as Firaga stumbled back to me, looking rather upset until he saw several Pokémon coming over to congratulate him.

Ri was no exception, as he smiled at Lila and Cutie. He went up to Firaga and shook his hand, before he accidentally knocked Firaga down by smacking him too hard on the back. The Lucario gave a laugh as Firaga leapt up, frowning a little. Then Firaga punched him back playfully. Cutie fluttered over to Ri and Firaga, nodding her head before going over to Aiedail and Skittles, who were now playing together.

"Hey, Kiara, you guys put on a great battle." I said, smiling at the Nidoran in her arms. He growled at me, but since I could handle Firaga I could certainly handle a Nidoran.

She smiled back and nodded. "Sorry about Spike, though."

"Nah, it's okay, my Charmeleon's pretty angsty sometimes."

We both shared a laugh before Mr Edward butted his way in and asked, in the most ridiculous way ever, "So who won?"

"It was a draw," Kiara and I responded at the same time.

Before he could do or say something even dumber, the bell rang, and I heaved a sigh of relief as Mr Edward released us.

* * *

"Can you _believe_ this?" I cried to Firaga and Skittles as I slammed down my newspapers. I chugged down my coffee and continued to read.

"TEAM ROCKET PLOTTING?" the headline read. Then it showed Team Rocket grunts with a maroon 'R' on their shirts, their faces blurred, carrying out what seemed like a crate of Electrodes.

Team Rocket is your terrorist organization. They're split into two branches. The first branch steals Pokémon; they're not very scary, but it's the second branch that scares people. Suicide Charizards, exploding Electrodes...the Charizards scarred Firaga for life when he read the news with me as a Charmander.

There's also Team Magma and Team Aqua which rule the lands and seas. Team Galactic are the weirdest of all; they claim to have fashion sense with greenish blue hair and try to find Dialga and Palkia and even Arceus. Everyone laughs at them because firstly, all three mostly reside in another dimension. Also, Arceus is officially the most versatile and powerful Pokémon on Earth, as old as the planet itself, so if they ever tried to capture it, Arceus would blast them away with Bubble or some attack like that.

Barzini didn't even look up from chatting with his childhood friend, Malik Shabazz. "And man, I was talking to this girl, and she didn't run away from me when I started talking about Lord of The Rings…"

Poor, poor girl…

Malik glanced about, and then widened his eyes at the newspaper headlines. He snatched it from me. "Goooosh we're doomed. I am never taking Charizard service."

Charizards usually fly people around, because they're rather large and can carry a family safely. I read that in Pokémon History, people actually invented a machine to fly huge numbers of people around; a plane or something, and they _did _try it, but in the end, planes stopped services because everyone thought that it was a total waste of metal and fuel; why a plane when you can pay less for a private Charizard?

Now, we even have teleporting Abras. And you can also hire someone to teach your flying Pokémon how to fly to a certain location, say Japan, and undergo a few days of training. After that, you can easily fly to and fro.

I continued to read the news. Lady Gaga was in the Life section of the newspapers; she dressed up as a sexy Vaporeon for the music awards. Also, in home news, a Wartortle got drunk and drowned in the Singapore River. One of the first cases that a water Pokémon has drowned in the world, so there's a lot of buzz, especially since the first few cases were due to pollution.

The Singapore River is one of the many things we're proud of, because it went from a extremely disgusting floating wasteland, to a spotless river. Thank the fines and our government.

"So who's the girl, Barzini?"

"Her name is Katie Galante. I think she's pretty…oh, I think that's her coming up."

I looked up from my newspapers and spotted it. A Roxas necklace. Roxas is my favourite character from Kingdom Hearts. He's so awesome I have a mini standee of him, and in every sketchbook I own there's a doodle of him.

"THAT'S A ROXAS NECKLACE!" I shouted excitedly. Katie looked up at me, and she broke into a huge grin.

"I know! Pretty, isn't it?" she replied back, and I started to gush. She then sat down and continued to chat with Barzini…or rather Malik and Barzini started to ramble about some nerd stuff.

Firaga rolled his eyes as we continued scanning the news. Then he suddenly froze up and nudged me. "Char?" he asked, looking around. I did the same, and then I realized that my Delcatty was…gone.

* * *

I followed Firaga, who was staring hard at the ground. There were marks that indicated that there were skittles and M&Ms on the ground before. And then I found her, happily snacking on a chocolate bar and shoving a Poochyena away. A Combusken was nudging his trainer excitedly, and then he looked up.

Firaga leapt in front of me, growling at the Combusken. The Combusken responded with a threatening glare.

"You _kidnapped _my Delcatty?" I yelled angrily. He simply continued to stare at me with a goofy smile on his face.

"And to whom do I owe an insincere apology to?" he asked back sweetly.

Firaga charged at him, but the Combusken held him back. Skittles didn't even notice us as she continued to chew at the chocolate bar he was holding.

"You do that and I'll sic Firaga on you."

"The name's Benry Shallows, and Romeo, at your service!" He pretended to bow, along with the Combusken Romeo, and he took a step forward, only to fall flat on his face when he tripped over his Poochyena. Romeo ran up to help him up, as he chided his Poochyena, "You ruined my act again, Rascal!"

"Skittles, just…take his chocolate bar and let's go…" I mumbled.

He abruptly stood up. "B-But wait! If you want, I'll er, walk you back!" He glanced at his Combusken to get approval. "I mean, that's what men do, right?" Romeo nodded vigorously.

"Nya!" Skittles agreed, purring as she easily fished out one more chocolate bar. Me and my kleptomaniac Pokémon…

"Fine…but only because they want your chocolate…" I mumbled as Firaga pulled out a chocolate bar from Benry's pocket as well. He walked alongside Romeo, with Rascal the Poochyena running about energetically.

Just then, a few boys ran past us. One of them looked at me, and then looked at Benry. Benry gave him a thumbs-up, and they started to yell, "Kimberly Younan's going to strip naked while her Eevee evolves!"

Benry was about to bolt with Romeo when he realized Skittles, Firaga and I looking at him expectantly. "U-Uh, I'm not interested in a slut…no, I'm not! Yeah! I'm a normal…normal man…who is romantic!"

"You sound like you're promoting yourself as potential boyfriend."

"So…do I sound…_promising_?"

"Nope. Not at all. You _do _want to see her, don't you?"

"We…we can go together, right?" he suggested hesitantly. He checked his phone. "It's at Moss Rock."

I lit up. "A Leafeon!"

They say that sometimes, you can actually _see _an Eevee morph and evolve into some other Pokémon. People have tried to record it, but so far we have only eyewitness accounts of it.

He grinned as we continued walking. "That's great! We can go togeth-!" he tripped over his Poochyena again.

* * *

A crowd was already forming as we found Moss Rock. It was a damp place, damper than Singapore itself, and it was one of the many places where we could battle…or evolve Pokémon.

The audience was largely male, with Markus at the front complete with a camera. "I'm going to record it!" he screamed, and all the boys cheered. Some of them even patted him on the back.

"Um…ex_cuse _me, but move away."

"WOAH SHE'S HERE!" All the boys cheered and roared as she stepped forward.

Kimberly Younan was possibly one of the prettiest girls in school. She was the typical pretty Singapore girl – short shorts that resembled underwear, or dresses, long hair, chopstick-thin, big eyes, and a master of acting cute.

She sauntered towards Moss Rock, with all the boys watching in rapt attention. I spotted Jayden there, and she waved me over. "If they even lay a finger on Kimberly…" she cracked her knuckles and smiled, "I'm gonna have a fun time…right, guys?"

Chikyu and Seishin nodded. The Bulbasaur and Kirlia were there, with Chikyu hoisting Seishin up with her vines to ensure that they don't do anything.

"Is Markus filming how she evolves her Eevee?" I asked, as Markus continued to make adjustments to his camera.

"Yeah, I doubt he's the type who films her butt or something." Jayden shrugged. "Besides, Kimberly's not going to strip…"

"Wow, I'd love to see everyone's reactions…" I mumbled. I saw Benjamin trying to coax Gowind Vairnoogorbalun into going over to watch, with Xenny laughing along. Gowind was generally a nice guy. The scrawny Indian was with his Nuzleaf, Curther, and his Absol, Athena. He was a genius, in every sense, but due to other subjects he doesn't do very well at times.

"And I heard that Daisy Hart told everyone that Kimberly was going to evolve her Eevee here…" Elena soon joined us, with Aquabub and Blossom. The Roselia smelled of chrysanthemum. "But I didn't recall her saying anything about _stripping_."

"Boys…" we all lamented in unison.

Kimberly walked over to the moss rock with her Eevee, Hope. Her Pichu Precious was seated on her head looking about at the sea of boys watching them eagerly.

"Okay, Kimberly, you need to make your Eevee stand…right here, yup." Markus instructed. Hope trotted up to the rock, looking about.

"Now…I need a volunte-"

Instantly, all the boys started to scream and shout, waving their hands violently.

"Um…Jayden? You there?" she called out, looking around. Honestly, she looked like a Korean girl from Girls' Generation. Why, if you dumped her in the middle of their photo shoot you wouldn't even ask.

"No way!" Jayden shouted. She looked at Elena and I, and shrugged. "I don't wanna battle an Eevee…"

"Okay…um, Aeleus?"

The boys immediately shoved him out of the crowd. Elena, Jayden and I moved towards the stands by the side, such that we had a bird's eye view of the battle.

"Yeah, Kimberly?" he asked smoothly.

"Battle!" she cheered, and the boys roared with her. She gave him a dazzling smile, but he seemed completely unfazed.

"Actually…I would like to make it a double battle. Kimberly, you can pick a partner, and I'll pick mine. " Aeleus grinned. "She owes me a favour, anyway."

Shit. Oh, no. Firaga smirked, and he stood up. Skittles was still munching on the chocolate bar.

"Okay! Then Aydan! Can you help me out?"

The shy boy slowly walked up to Kimberly, and gave a sheepish smile. "Um, I'll use my Riolu, Luke." At that, his Riolu popped up, grinning.

"Wait…didn't he name his Riolu Lulu?" Elena asked.

"Nah, it's just the Riolu's nickname because his mum likes the sound of Lulu." I replied. I met his mum before. Very interesting.

"My partner will be Charis," Aeleus announced, and Firaga decided to act all cool by landing before Aeleus with a Fire Spin. He also got Seishin to teleport him above his landing point.

"Stupid Charmeleon," I mumbled as I got off the stands.

"Good luck!" Elena called out. "We girls will be cheering for you!"

"Thanks!" I responded, before I stood next to Aeleus, who was giving me an amused smile. "What?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. Well, we should start, since…"

Firaga was already trying to attack Aydan's Riolu. Luke sidestepped him and then pushed him back.

Firaga and Luke had a rivalry ever since Luke accidentally hit him with a painful Focus Punch to the butt. In fact, that was how I bonded with Aydan. Ah, good times.

Aydan gave me a shy smile and I nodded back. This was going to be fun, though the damp conditions didn't make it good.

"Swirls, you're up!" Aeleus called out, and his Poliwhirl jumped in front of him, nodding at Firaga.

Markus immediately assumed announcer. "Charis and Aeleus versus Kimberly and Aydan; Charmeleon and Poliwhirl versus Eevee and Riolu! Battle…START!"

Since our main objective was to evolve Hope the Eevee, we had to give her a tough battle, but once she finally evolves, we'd beat her! Besides, Aeleus probably has something interesting up his sleeves with regards to Swirls…

"Firaga, flamethrower at Eevee!" The Charmeleon sprung into action, delivering a hard-hitting flamethrower at Hope. She surprisingly dodged the attack, landing on top of the stupid Moss Rock.

"Swirls, use Toxic!"

The Poliwhirl did that, and in a flash, Luke and Hope were standing on a pool of purple toxic goo. Hope leapt away from the moss rock and tried to groom herself, while Luke frowned.

"Lu, use Thunderpunch at Poliwhirl." Aydan countered, as his Riolu generated sparks around both of his fists. He was speedy enough to hit the Poliwhirl once.

"Firaga, Slash on the Riolu! Distract him!"

"Swirls, dig!"

Luke was about to jab at the Poliwhirl somemore, but Swirls simply jumped up and started to dig furiously at the damp ground. The Riolu looked around, confused, and he was soon hit by a Slash from Firaga.

The Charmeleon decided to attack somemore, using a flurry of Slash that Luke tried to dodge.

"Hope, Shadow Ball at the Charmeleon, then Mud-Slap!"

Hope started to generate a Shadow Ball from within her mouth, and as she unleashed it, Aeleus called out, "Psychic, full blast! Send Shadow Ball flying elsewhere!"

Suddenly, both the Eevee and the shadow ball started to float. Hope struggled in mid-air, as the Shadow Ball flew right past her, dissolving as it flew into the wall.

"Luke, EARTHQUAKE!"

Everyone started to scream, save for Markus, who was still filming the entire battle. Some summoned their flying Pokémon to lift them up while others stood at the stands, which were modified to withstand them.

The Riolu slammed his mighty fist into the ground, doing a battle cry, and the ground started to shake violently.

"Swirls, dig out and use Hydro Pump at the Riolu from below!"

In a flash, Hope was flung towards the Moss Rock with Psychic. The Poliwhirl got out of the ground, right below the Riolu, and then hit him with Hydro Pump.

"Swim up and use Psychic to slam him into the ground before Earthquake takes its toll!"

The Poliwhirl unleashed an even bigger jet of water, and then he jumped into the water, taking the Riolu with his hands. His eyes glowed as Swirls forced Riolu down into the ground, and once he did so, he watched as the earthquake started to shake Luke and Hope.

Firaga was slightly affected, but he was able to avoid the brunt of the earthquake by jumping up at the crucial point when the earthquake was most severe.

"No, Luke!" Aydan cried out, as he watched his Riolu stagger out and collapse. Swirls used Psychic to hand him over to Aydan.

"Well, I guess it's just Hope now!" Kimberly shrugged, nodding at Hope. I could've sworn I heard Firaga snort.

"Hope, ATTRACT!"

This was not good. Hope hopped towards both Swirls and Firaga and started to coo cutely. She rolled about in the mud, acting all cute.

"Firaga, Flame Whe- EEK!" I screamed as Firaga simply shot an Ember at me, before watching the Eevee in rapt attention.

Swirls ignored Aeleus as he patted Hope's head affectionately. Firaga started to get all ridiculously jealous, and then attacked Swirls with a Thunderpunch. Swirls responded with a Focus Punch and soon, the two of them were rolling about, trying to wrestle the other out.

"Well, this isn't going as well as I thought…" I mumbled, but Aeleus seemed to be focused on taking out something from his bag.

"Hey, Swirls, check this out! Lady Gaga in her Poliwag outfit!" he shouted, and Swirls turned around, only to find himself smitten by the singer. He shoved the magazine in his bag, smirking to himself.

"Hope, double team both of them!"

Tons of Eevees soon appeared, all still using Attract. Swirls wasn't fazed at all, while Firaga simply tried to hug all of them. This was _so _embarrassing…

"Swirls, Mud Shot!"

Swirls simply started to chuck balls of mud at all the Eevee. As he hit the first one, the real Eevee appeared, looking frustrated at her mirror image.

"Focus Punch!"

"Hope, Take Down!"

The Eevee hopped on the Poliwhirl's glowing fist and then headbutted him painfully. Immediately, his fist stopped glowing.

As they continued to fight, Firaga stood up and rubbed his eyes. I decided to coax him out of liking Hope. "Come on, Firaga, didn't you like that sweet Charmander from across the street?" I whispered, as Firaga gave me a dejected frown. "Just…imagine she's here, okay? Then try to…impress her!"

He's _still _not doing anything. "Okay…uh, imagine _me _as Delia the Charmander! Uh, char! And, um, okay, if you beat Hope, I promise we'll go see her again…and I'll tell her of your heroics!" I bent down, patting his head. "And…we can even show a video. Look, Markus is recording! We can even post it on Youtube so other cute Charmanders, or even Charmeleons can see you and your handsome smile. Come on, smile!"

Firaga stood up, and flashed me one of his most ridiculous grins ever. Even Aeleus tried to hold his laughter, and I hit him on the shoulder before turning to Firaga. Okay, this worked out pretty okay!

"Now, Firaga, go attack Hope with Fire Spin!"

Firaga shook off his sadness and spun towards Hope. The Eevee spun her victim the Poliwhirl around at the last moment, causing both Firaga and Swirls to stumble and fall.

"Hope, use Quick Attack on both!" Kimberly cheered, looking excited as though she had already won. The Eevee started to dart about, hitting both of them repeatedly.

"Firaga, protect yourself with a fire spin!" The Charmeleon nodded at me and then started to cloak himself in a spiral of fire.

"Hope, ignore the Charmeleon!" Now the Eevee started to attack Swirls viciously.

"Dig."

Swirls dug into the ground, and when Firaga saw that Hope was following Swirls, he charged towards the Eevee, knocking her a fair bit with his Fire Spin.

"It's okay, Hope, use Dig to find the Poliwhirl!"

The Eevee dug deep into the ground, and then suddenly, Swirls was launched out of his hole, defeated by Hope's Last Resort.

Markus groaned. "I didn't see it! WHY?"

"Swirls!" Aeleus ran up to his Poliwhirl, with a triumphant Hope looking on from the moss rock. He looked up at the Eevee, and smiled. "Good job, Hope!"

"Nyaah." She replied, before she was engulfed by a blinding white light. Elena threw a pair of sunglasses at me, but it hit my face instead, so by the time I regained my composure, Hope had already evolved into a graceful Leafeon, nudging her new leafy tail playfully.

Firaga grinned. He was _so _going to win.

Kimberly patted her Leafeon, and then she smiled at me. "I guess we don't need to battle anymore! Yay, Hope!"

"W-What?" I responded, as Hope looked at me, puzzled. Firaga gaped in horror, and then he ran up to her, trying to beg her for a battle.

"Sorry, but I need to change out of this…" she pointed at her dress, which was slightly damp.

I looked at my muddied jeans and wondered if I should change as well. Firaga sulked as he came back to me; he had failed in his mission to battle.

With that, Kimberly slid past us and ran off with her Leafeon and Pichu. The boys soon realized that they had been tricked, and they started to whine and complain.

"Well, that was pretty anti-climax…" I muttered to myself, and Firaga echoed my opinion in his own way. Skittles went up to Aeleus and picked out a packet of M&Ms. "Uh, sorry."

"It's okay, I have a _spare_." He took one out of his bag, and Skittles lit up, immediately standing up to grab at it. "You already have one, so take it!"

"Skittles! Don't be greedy!" I scolded, carrying Skittles away from him. "I'll buy you a packet, I promis-"

"MY GARDEN!" I heard Barzini scream from outside.

When something happens to his garden, Barzini goes on a rampage. Once, when he realized that someone's Donphan had run over one of his berry plants, he got so upset he printed out wanted posters for the Donphan, and then started to scold it so harshly, he made the Donphan's trainer cry.

* * *

"ALL MY BERRIES ARE PINK!" he wailed in confusion as Jayden, Elena, Aeleus and I approached him. Markus was already there, examining the scene of the crime.

"Well…at least the pink Pecha berries are safe!" Elena pointed out, even though they were not spared; they were painted maroon.

"MY BERRIES!...My…poor…be…" just like that, he suddenly started to sleep next to his berry plant. Noldor and Silvan examined the surroundings, trying to find out who put their trainer to sleep, but in a flash, they started to sleep as well.

"Uh…well, this is pretty random…" Aeleus remarked, picking at a berry. To my utter disgust, he licked the paint off. "Oddish jam…"

"BUI!" a Buizel ran up towards Aeleus, snatching the berry from him. He shot the poor guy with a Water Gun, before he realized that there were three girls staring at him in confusion.

"Yo, Bombi!" A girl ran up to her Buizel, with her Breloom following her. On seeing the licked berry, she gave Aeleus a pat on the shoulder.

She looked at the garden and burst out laughing. "Not bad, guys! High-five!" She high-fived both of them proudly. Firaga and Skittles picked a berry from his tree. The Charmeleon examined it, then popped the whole thing into his mouth. Skittles did the same, and then she decided to reach for every berry, lick it clean, and then set them back beside the plant.

"Daisy Hart, you did it again; you pranked Barzini again…" Jayden clapped her hands in mock appreciation.

Daisy giggled and did a curtsy. "No problem!"

"Wait, what do you mean by _again_?" I queried, watching as the female Breloom nudged Barzini.

"Well, remember the Donphan incident? Bombi and the Breloom Pita just made Donphan tracks. They dug the whole plant out and gave it to Daisy for her birthday." Jayden smirked at Daisy, who grinned and nodded.

"That was a pretty cool trick by Bombi!" Daisy added, but as she watched Barzini stir, she gulped and laughed. "Butt he needed my help! So..."

"You heard the news from Kimberly that she was going to evolve her Eevee, and needed people to battle her." Aeleus stated, smirking at her. "You're really smart, using her as a distraction..."

Daisy grinned. "Of course! From the Great Hart, The Boisterous Buizel Bombi, and Pretty Breloom Pita!" She gave another curtsy, and we all clapped after a moment of hesitation.

"Come on, we'd better get to class before sleepy berry wakes up!" I reminded, grinning. "The teachers are gonna be _so _pissed off with him!"

Goodness, here's to another weird day at Lanseal Pokémon Academy…

* * *

**BUMPER CHAPTER! My longest ever. Why? Probably because there's me in it. I also covered all OCs submitted so far, so hurray! **

**Anyway, Barzini and I are trying to update it before he starts his school; he's going to take his O levels this year! As for me, well, I have to wait for my results, so by say 10th January I will either be updating, or going on a break from Fanfiction in which I wallow in self-pity over my lousy results. I just hope I don't screw up English and the Humanities; I accidentally said that a news that made me laugh was a woman who got stuck and had to call for an ambulance when she had s** with her dog. I got so flustered I accidentally said that the dog drowned, and then I realised it wasn't funny. So...I just spilled everything.**

**To any O level student awaiting results (classmate, schoolmate, person...), GOOD LUCK, AND ALL THE BEST FOR IT! :D Even Barzini's collecting his Chinese results with me...  
**


	6. Transformation: Barzini's POV

I always cycled or at least drove to school with Putnam, but now, this girl, Katie, would accompany us daily, as we would chat in the car about stories; long epics like Lord of the Rings and Romance of the Three Kingdoms. She always seemed so patient and cool when listening to either of us, and would always answer appropriately. Rumour has it that she's always trying to leave her house to get away from her abusive brothers. But rumours are rumours, so naturally I paid no heed to that.

"So who won and conquered the Three Kingdoms in the end?" Katie asked.

"No one. The Sima clan took over Wei and renamed it Jin, and destroyed the other kingdoms..."

"Oh...that's new."

"Yes...sad right? Great Empires... Destroyed."

"Mm hmm...Kaput."

I stopped the car and turned to face her. "You speak _German_?"

She looked proud of herself and beamed. "Ja! Ich spriche Deutsch...and French. And a bit of Russian, Da!" she added after an afterthought.

"Wow... You're a smart girl...with looks too!" I replied with a smile.

She smiled back. "I'm not really smart, I bet that there are tons of other people who know languages…"

I snorted. "Yeah, right, but the only problem is that I've never met any of those people you speak of…"

* * *

Anyway, our teacher told us that today would be an important day for us, because they had prepared for us some sort of major task. Both Secondary Three and Four students were gathering in the Hall for the briefing. I huddled with Markus and Malik, holding hushed conversations about this so-called task.

"So, what do you think is going on?" I asked silently.

"Maybe Singapore just declared war on Malaysia over the water supplies?" Malik suggested.

"No, no, don't you remember? We're dumping our contract because we have purified water anyway… Maybe they wanna draft us for National Service?"

National Service is the way Singapore maintains an army, through conscription. Both owner and Pokémon have to serve for two years, men only, though I remember Charis reading articles about outstanding women in the army.

"That would make sense if they only call in the boys to this place, but I can see Jayden and Charis moving towards us already."

Sure enough, we were joined by more people. Jayden and Charis entered first, then Katie and Cole. Katie was blushing and there was a claw mark on Cole's face that resembled the scar that that stupid Charmeleon, Firaga gave to me for stepping on his tail… Elena and Xenny came along, with Benjamin tagging behind. Aelus, Benry, Kishon, Daisy and Kiara soon joined us. Even the school's most popular girl joined our little party, Kimberly.

I cast a wary eye at Kimberly and asked, "Did you really strip when your Eevee evolved?"

Kimberly brightened up and said cheerfully, "You really think I am a slut?"

I looked at her apologetically, and whispered, "The Beauty is here."

"Yeah, and I see the Beast right in my face…" Charis mumbled, giving me a sarcastic smile. Firaga sniggered.

"All right! Attention now!" a deep rumbling voice sounded through the halls.

There, on the stage, the fat female principal was now starting to address us. She always called us lost souls for teaching, but her face looked as if she was a lost soul who used Botox.

"This task will earn all of you..." she paused for dramatic effect but all of us still gave her the face signaling our boredom, "5 points for your GCE O Levels..." now, she achieved the effect she wanted - gasps and cries of joy.

You should have seen Charis' face. She looked ready to kill. And so was her Charmeleon, but then again, he always wanted to kill. I bet his secret obsession is for Charis to become an assassin.

"I am sure your various teachers have talked about a fair bit of legendary Pokémon? Well now, we would like you, to team up with your seniors or juniors, and do extensive research on your chosen legendary. You may choose to debate the significance of such a Pokémon, or you can prove or debunk its existence, with sound reasoning. You have two weeks to do prior research, plus in three months, we'll be sending everyone involved to various parts of the world so as to further improve your findings. We will be holding a presentation during the holidays…"

There were murmurs across the hall, but everyone just stayed where they were. After all, they were already gathered together with their friends.

"The _holidays_?" Malik almost cried.

"We have chosen 5 main legendaries to choose from." The principal cleared her throat, and the screen behind her started a Powerpoint presentation.

"First, the Alpha Pokémon, Arceus." An ancient drawing of the Pokémon appeared. Several students started to chat excitedly among themselves. "The Pokémon who shaped the world, born even before the universe." She also showcased photographs at the Temple of Heaven, where Arceus is said to be able to hear anyone's prayers.

"Next…the Diving Pokémon, Lugia. Lugia is connected to the Rainbow Pokémon, Ho-Oh, and the three legendary birds – Zapdos, Articuno, and Moltres. While we're at this topic, I would like to stress that legendary Pokémon are connected to each other in one way or another, so you must do your research well to provide an accurate report of them."

She pointed to how Lugia summoned the three birds. There was an ancient story of how Articuno, Moltres and Zapdos fought over a great expanse of seas. Lugia rose up from the waters to quell them all, saving the humans. They thanked Lugia profusely and then started to treat Lugia as a god.

There was another story of how a man once fished out the most beautiful Milotic of all. The Milotic begged for mercy, but the man was ruthless – he killed the Pokémon, tossing its remains into the sea while he took in the vital parts to cook. Everyone at his village had a feast that night, but it was their last night. Within minutes of hearing the Milotic's death, Lugia summoned a storm so grave that the waves swallowed up the whole village. A tornado ripped through the village, and thunder struck on merciless villagers. It was Lugia's wrath.

"My mum told me that the sky and sea must co-exist peacefully, just like Lugia and Ho-Oh. Rise from the ashes, and rise from the seas…" Charis mumbled wistfully to herself.

"So, you're going to take Lugia, I assume?" Aeleus asked.

Elena beamed. "It'll be fun! Lugia is connected to so many legendaries! Like…hair clips on sale! Research on one Lugia, and you get Ho-Oh as a discount, plus 3 extra legendary birds free!"

Charis blinked. "Uh…yeah. I think. Something like that." She glanced at Aeleus. "For now, I think Lugia will be an interesting project, but we'll just have to listen out, I guess."

Malik sighed. "I'm just going for the easiest one…Arceus, maybe. Or…" he eyed Lila, who in response, eyed him back coldly.

"You are _not _copying me for the sake of getting good grades. _Ever_." Lila hissed. Her Lucario, Ri, rolled his eyes.

Benry shrugged. Somehow, everyone started to gather about. "I'm just here to follow cute girls…"

Romeo, his Combusken, smacked him. "A-And, of course, hot Pokém-ARGH!" Before he could continue, his Poochyena, Rascal bumped behind his knees. He instantly buckled and fell down. "YOU RASCAL!"

Chasing the Poochyena was Bombi, the Buizel, who was giving him a smug grin. Daisy giggled. "Aw, come on, Benry, just let Bombi and Pita play!" Bombi and Pita surrounded the poor Poochyena, and before Benry could stand up properly, Rascal had run into his stomach, tackling him to the ground.

Jayden rolled her eyes. "I suddenly realize why the Poochyena's called Rascal…"

"…And then, we have the Being of Knowledge, Uxie." She flashed a photograph of a red jewel, with three Pokémon surrounding it.

"Mesprit, Azelf, and Uxie…" Cole mumbled. "They look fun!"

"…Fun…?" Jayden echoed uncertainly.

"I mean, if I find it, we can play!"

Daisy Hart lit up. "Cooool! It'd be sooo fun, playing with them!" Her Buizel and Breloom grinned at each other.

"They're also related to Dialga, and Palkia, right?" Aeleus asked. We all turned to Lila, who was listening to us curiously. She simply nodded her head.

"The Being of Knowledge is right here, Principal!" Cole shouted, pointing to Lila.

Lila didn't say a word. She simply flipped him over her shoulder, with Jayden looking on, nodding in admiration.

"I didn't know you learnt that…" Jayden pointed out, smiling at Lila.

Lila ignored her comment. "Was that right, Ri?" she asked her Lucario, who nodded, and smiled back.

"Please, Jayden could flip him over _and _give him a punch!" Charis interjected. Jayden and Charis high-fived each other, before they continued listening to the oblivious Principal.

"…Rayquaza, the Sky High Pokémon, said to lurk in the ozone layer. It is rumoured that when the Skarmory made a hole in the ozone, Rayquaza killed the Skarmory, which explains its unnatural death." The principal cleared her throat. "For anyone doing research on Rayquaza, do note that he is linked to Deoxys. They both have deep rivalries

running between them."

"B_ooooo_ring…" Cole called out.

Jayden delivered a punch to his shoulder.

Aeleus shrugged. "Well, it _is _true."

"And finally…Celebi. Guardian of the Forest." The principal finished, with a dramatic pause. She looked at us expectantly, probably for some form of applause.

No one gave the applause. Jayden, Markus and I exchanged excited glances. CELEBI!

* * *

My heart was already racing, and Charis squealed, "5 points! Which means that even though I get B3s for all my subjects…" she suddenly gave a laugh worthy of a maniac.

The new entry, Kimberly, then asked us, "So... Which one are we going to hunt?"

My eyes widened, "First of all, how did you get here? Second, we don't know. _Yet_."

Kimberly looked hurt, but I wasn't going to give in to a school slut.

"I invited her here." Cole spoke up. Benry and Romeo gave him a few obvious nudges and he sighed. "Sort of. We lured her here with Romeo trying to attract her Leafeon, Hope."

"Me too..."Charis said. "Besides, she wasn't even falling for the Leafeon trick. Look at Hope!"

We all turned to the Leafeon; the one who was supposedly entitled to an imaginary strip tease from Kimberly. She was licking her paw innocently, looking at us. Charis rolled her eyes at Benry. "I bet she didn't even notice Romeo. Why did you drag me in this ridiculous thing in the first place? Like I told you, we should have just _asked_ her. You don't drag a girl and make her watch your Combusken try to attract a naïve little Leafeon!"

I shot a look at Charis. She whispered to me, "She may be _popular._ But she _is_ smart, and she likes_ Lord of the Rings."_ Look, I knew she was lying, but I did feel a bit guilty about having a go at Kimberly.

"Fine…" I grumbled. I smiled at Kimberly and welcomed her, upon which she brightened up immediately.

The list of legendaries was being passed around. We took it, with Aeleus carefully placing it down on the table. Everyone crowded around.

"I already know what _I _want!" Charis declared, as she scribbled her name under 'Lugia'. Both Aeleus and Benry almost snatched for the pen next, with Aeleus smirking.

"You first, then," he handed the pen over, his smirk evolving into a grin as Benry blushed and penned both of their names below Charis'.

It was my turn. Jayden and Markus stood next to me. "Write my name!" Jayden urged, and Markus was so impatient, he took out his own pen and wrote all three names below 'Celebi'.

"And you, Katie?" I asked politely, before Benjamin could steal the list and write down Xenny's name with his. He scowled at me, before flashing a goofy smile at Xenny, who blushed and smiled back.

"Um…I'll go with you, I guess." She blushed slightly.

I wrote Katie's name down as well, and then triumphantly handed it over to Benjamin, Xenny, and Gowind.

"Rayquaza!" Benjamin and Xenny squealed as they scribbled their names down. Chicky and Gally, Benjamin's Chikorita and Gallade, started to celebrate with Xenny's Quilava Shaily, and her Pikachu, Sneaky. Chicky started to whip her large leaf, and Gally just started to flex his arms. Sneaky jumped about hyperactively, and soon, she was joined by Markus' equally hyperactive Taillow, Swoosh.

Then, Benry's Poochyena Rascal jumped about, and he bumped into Gally, who fell forward on Benry, and accidentally kicked Chicky.

When Gally fell on Benry, his sweaty palms hit Benry's face, causing Benry to scream in disgust. His Combusken, Romeo, pulled the Gallade away from the distraught Benry, but ended up getting sweat smeared all over his face, because the Gallade had instinctively smacked Romeo's face.

"MY FACE!" Benry wailed.

"YOUR SWEATY FACE!" Aeleus cried out in mock horror, before smacking him on the back. Charis laughed, and both boys beamed at her.

…_Interesting_…

"I think Rascal is jinxed…!" Benry lamented.

"Chicky! Shh…my dear, dear Chicky…!" Benjamin started to coo as he cuddled the Chikorita, who had already started to snivel. Xenny started to stroke her gently, and Gowind tried to use his soprano voice to soothe her, only to be angrily chided by Benjamin, who playfully snapped, "NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR YOUR SOPRANO!"

Before anyone could say anything, Rascal had jumped into Charis' lap and started to bark sweetly. Charis, Jayden, Elena, Xenny and Kimberly cooed, with Jayden snapping, "How could you say that to such a sweet little Poochyena?"

Elena nodded her head vigorously. "Yeah, you meanie!"

"I think you're just stupidly careless," Charis added, before setting Rascal down.

Everyone nodded. Benjamin handed the list to Kimberly, who stared at the paper for a while.

"Um…Kimberly?" Markus waved a hand in her face.

"Oh. Uh, nothing. I just saw Aydan's name and…thought."

I peered at the list. Aydan Belle's name was immaculately written below 'Arceus', and soon, Kimberly penned down her name delicately below Aydan's.

Malik Shabazz joined us, with his Vibrava, Marcy, seated on top of his head. "Malik! My man, what are you choosing?"

He looked at the list, and firmly wrote his name near Lila's. "Wherever Lila's going. I may be able to get some…insight…"

"Lazy bum," Charis mumbled. She suddenly pointed to my food. "Barzini, if you do not finish the Western Food you ordered, Silvan and Noldor will finish it for you."

I blinked at my Magikarp and Chips in the process of what Charis calls, "cleansing". It's some old wives' tale that dragon saliva can be used as anything…that she actually believes in. You have no idea how disgusting it was when she cleaned my table with Dratini saliva a few weeks ago…

Cole put on the irritating accent of his and looked at the ladies before he started talking to Malik, "Look pal, you won't impress girls if you copy their work!" He then turned to me. "And neither will _you_ if you like, chase after a miniscule Pokémon."

I shot him a glare. "Celebi is a _legendary _Pokémon, no matter how tiny it may be. You're just jealous because you didn't see it!"

Cole flinched, but he still did not get rid of his mocking accent and as he tried to rebut me, I told him, "Shut up and battle. If I win, do it my way. If not, the ladies can do it your way…"

I flung my napkin onto the table and moved to the Assembly Square, with Cole following behind, slightly pale.

I rarely get into a temper, for I managed to perfect the art of keeping calm most of the time, but I HATE it when people act smart. Charis happened to see me letting off steam at Daisy Hart before. She avoided me for 2 weeks.

* * *

Silvan and Noldor got into their positions in front of me, and so did his Onix and Chimchar in front of him.

"Barzini versus Cole; Dratini and Shelgon versus Onix and Chimchar!"

Upon the signal for the battle to begin given by Markus, I bellowed to my pokémon, "Silvan, Noldor! Water gun and Flamethrower on Onix and Chimchar!"

Renegade recoiled from the water shot while he swung his tail at Silvan, who expertly dived over it. Blaze the Chimchar shot back with a flamethrower of its own, with the two attacks colliding in mid air.

"Renegade! Iron tail on Silvan!"

"Now! Silvan! Ice Beam on the tail!"

The tail froze and the Onix couldn't move. He toppled forward, and Silvan took advantage of by giving it a dose of Dragonbreath. Renegade gave a cry and fainted, much to Cole's chagrin.

Blaze, temporarily distracted by the defeat of an ally, slackened the power of its flamethrower, and my Shelgon was able to successfully overpower it, defeating the Chimchar in one swift blast, reinforced by Silvan's Water Gun.

"AWESOME!" Markus exclaimed.

As my supporters cheered, a blinding flash of light came from Silvan, and the small crowd that gathered gasped and shielded their eyes.

As I stood there in disbelief, a beautiful Pokémon sprung up from where my little Dratini was, and now Silvan was a Pokémon known as Dragonair.

I walked over to it, and gave it a good nice hug, and I shouted to the crowd, "Party at my dormitory the day after tomorrow! All Lanseal students are welcomed!"

* * *

We all sat back at the table, noisily eating our lunch. For Silvan, I had purchased for him two plates of fish and chips. I was about to hand him a candy cane I kept in my bag for Silvan, but I found them missing. I eyed Charis' Delcatty and Elena's Piplup, the Delcatty openly eating the candy cane, and Aquabub casting glances at me every once in a while. Firaga simply rolled his eyes and gave me a smug smirk as he chomped down the candy cane in my face.

"Firaga! Don't influence the Piplup!" Charis snapped.

"Pip!" Aquabub agreed, as he reluctantly placed the candy cane on the table. Firaga simply rolled his eyes.

"You'd make a pretty bad mother, Charis…" Elena remarked, shaking her head at her Charmeleon, who snorted.

"Well, at least she'd make a pretty mum!" Aeleus suddenly blurted out, and Charis choked on her water, spilling some on Rascal, who got some in his eye, and ran into Skittles' butt, and the Delcatty suddenly hissed, jumping at Benry, who screamed again.

And to make matters worse, Skittles stole some of Benry's fries.

"Well, that was fun," Aeleus commented, patting the Delcatty on her head. His Mawile, Minerva nodded at Firaga, who burped in response. Swirls, his Poliwhirl, looked on in amusement. "But I'm gonna go do some research in the library. I need to read up on Lugia first, so see you guys later."

As he walked away, we all glanced at Charis, who was trying to swallow down the water she choked on. She looked at all of us, and then took a mouthful of her rice forcefully. "What?"

* * *

At the library, the girls were frantically looking for information from books about the five legendaries, while the guys were searching for information on Google.

We split up, since we already picked our legendaries. The Lugia team was made up of Charis, Elena, Aeleus and Benry. The two girls were studying their books intently.

The Arceus team included Lila, Aydan, Malik and Kimberly. Kimberly and Aydan got along fairly well, with Aydan trying to point out and organize his project, and Kimberly watching him, smitten and impressed.

Lila was ignoring Malik, who was a little shifty. "Um, so Arceus can…change _types_?" he asked again, looking very confused.

She almost slammed her book and glared at him. "Search for it yourself." She then collected her things and moved to another table.

Kishon, Cole, Kiara and Daisy were in the Azelf team. Kishon and Kiara surprisingly got along well, because both of them were fairly quiet. Kiara started babbling to Daisy about how her mum used tell her about Mesprit, Azelf and Uxie. Cole was trying to hide behind a book, but he failed, because the book was upside down, and we all knew that Cole just wanted to spy on the girls. In fact, it was so obvious that Aeleus and Benry were blocking his view to Charis and Elena.

The Rayquaza team was nowhere to be seen. Benjamin, Xenny and Gowind had disappeared somewhere. Which is good; Rex had apparently joined the Rayquaza project.

As for the Celebi team…

"Barzini? Get off reading The Hobbit and get to work." Jayden reprimanded me without even looking up.

"Aren't you reading manga…?"

She simply glared at me.

I did as she was told for I was painfully aware that I was within striking distance.

We were all taking down notes and later, we'd compare them with each other later, and take down important points for our journey.

After sometime, I wheeled around in my chair and asked, "You folks have anything?"

Elena threw the book down in frustration. "Shut _up _Barzini!" she snapped, before trying to write down something on Lugia. "So many legendaries involved…"

Katie put it down gently and rubbed her eyes. "Mm, nothing yet…" Her book was on tales of Celebi that dated back centuries ago.

Jayden looked engrossed in something, but Markus took a chance and peeked at her book. Instead of reading about Celebi, she was still reading her manga. "Jayden!" Markus snapped, and he soon met his match when Jayden smacked him over the head.

Charis was miraculously still reading. She finally looked up at Elena, smiled a bit, before she continued to read.

And she calls _me _a nerd.

Aeleus and Benry were reading as well, though Aeleus was just staring at the page, and every minute or so, Benry would walk out of the library, utterly frustrated, before coming back in. Aeleus was smart enough to have a whole stack of books right in front of him, so in case he got bored, he simply pushed his book to Charis and read a new one. Sometimes, Charis just took one book from his unread stack.

Kimberly had already given up and was looking through a fashion catalogue, flipping it casually, a smile on her face.

Kiara was already looking back at us and she shook her head. "Nothing on Azelf…" she mumbled softly, and Daisy grinned.

I looked at the guys beside me, and sighed. "We got folk songs and riddles. For the Lugia team, reported sightings puts Lugia from somewhere in the middle of Saudi Arabia all the way to Singapore. For Celebi, we got things from banana plantations in Malaysia to cherry blossoms in Japan."

At this, Charis asked, "Write them all down, then. I have a rough idea of what to include for the project, but I'm still fairly confused…"

"Well, we'll just have to finish up next week, right?" Daisy chirped merrily, but she was met with weary faces, save for Charis who looked exhilarated, and Lila who was ignoring us.

I yawned and nodded in agreement. I offered to drive all of them to the Tropius taxi stand, which they all readily agreed to, except Katie, Charis, Aeleus and Benry. When Charis said she was going to cycle, she headed out of the library to the Pokémon Centre in the school to pick up Firaga and Skittles. Aeleus and Benry then exited shortly afterwards.

"No, I'm not tired!" she insisted, as she forcefully flipped a page. "I still need to…read…_more_…"

She came with us anyway.

I dropped off nearly everyone except for Markus and Katie. Markus was enjoying the evening sky of Singapore, while Katie was zoning off.

"So, Katie. Where do you want me to drop you off?"

She seemed to contemplate it for a moment, before answering slowly, "Jack's Kitchen..."

Then suddenly, Markus gave an outburst, "Barzini! We were planning to go there all the time! Let's go now!"

My stomach could only agree. Besides, it was only...7 in the evening...

It took me some time to reach there, upon which we ordered steak made from Australian Tauros and drank Torchic soup and had an omelette from eggs made through ditto breeding.

As we ate, we talked about several things. Personal or not.

Katie asked me, "So...how is your family?"

I shrugged. "What family?"

Markus beamed. "A whole extended family in Canada!" he replied eagerly.

She sat up and said, "I'm sorry..."

"Naah, it's okay. So…what _is _a Roxas?" **(A/N: I don't know how I typed this…)**

Markus and I have always been puzzled with this item called Roxas, or rather, Charis and Katie's. Charis in particular was very fond of this Roxas, and whenever I mentioned Roxas, she would widen her eyes, which are huge to begin with. And then when I fail to say anything she huffs at me.

Even Benry tried to ask in his smooth-talking way, but the only thing Charis was willing to divulge was "You guys can't appreciate Roxas…"

Her eyes widened and she cried out, "You should be asking _WHO_ is Roxas!" and she started on ranting about something called Kingdom Hearts and a blonde guy...

Markus and I liked long stories, so we paid much attention while dining and drinking Oran juice, occasionally asking some questions here and there about Organization XIII and stuff.

When we were done, Katie reluctantly went home, and when we reached her doorstep, her brother was waiting, arms crossed.

"Why didn't you come back earlier?" he snapped. He ignored us as he smacked Katie's shoulder angrily. She winced.

"I had school." Her tone was ice, and Markus and I exchanged bewildered glances.

"Well, that's no excuse. Get in _now _and clean up, plus you have to mop the floor. And where the _hell _is my remote control?" He suddenly glared menacingly at Katie. "_You _took it, didn't you? You little-"

So the rumors were true.

He delivered a painful blow in the stomach, and Katie nearly fell off the porch. I grimaced as I caught her quickly enough.

Silvan was so angry he headbutted Katie's brother before he could say anything.

"KATIE! Didn't you say you were going to spend the month with us because of the legendary project?" I shouted at her back.

She gave me a confused look for a moment, before she grinned and replied, "Oh yes! I forgot!" Somehow, she managed to gather all her things in ten minutes, and dived into our car, her face filled with tears, but a big smile on her lips. I quickly stepped on the pedal and threw behind a confused brother.

"But Barzini, you stay in a student's dormitory. It is crammed!" she asked me, still smiling and wiping her tears.

"You can always upgrade it to deluxe..." Markus explained.

"A deluxe dormitory? It's like a small house! But it costs over ten thousand!" Katie said in disbelief.

I simply laughed.

* * *

Ok. I admit, some student dormitories may be shabby, but not mine. I have a small fortune of money which I use to make myself at home.

I registered Katie as an overnight guest. The receptionist cast us wary glances and called up someone to install a lock for Katie's room.

The sofa was made me real Tauros leather, the tables of Russian Sudowoodo wood, and beds made of Fearow feather. It looked like a small 5 star hotel by itself.

Sadly, there was no Guest Room, so Katie would have to bunk in with us for the month. Which was sort of…okay.

"Sorry, Katie, as big as this dorm may be, the bedroom will be a bit uncomfortable and you'll have to tell us to get out of the room if you're changing or anything _girlish_."

Katie looked very happy despite what I said, and so did her Pokémon, her Pineco, Grenade and a Furret named Slinkie.

Markus and I usually sleep at midnight, because we'd be busy chatting or watching movies. But today, I intended to let Katie feel at home, so we sat around the coffee table and watched television, while the tea was being prepared. Katie obviously had no control at home over the television, for she couldn't even tell where the BPC was.

The BPC is the British Pokémon Broadcast; very accurate news, better than PNA anyway, Pokémon News Asia.

As I fumbled around to make tea and treats for the Pokémon, the News was clearly showing a battle scene.

"Today, local Brazilian forces destroyed a Team Rocket hideout, fierce fighting ensued but the Hyper Beams smashed right through enemy ranks... In other news, Pokémon Champion Zak has revealed that he will be going in search of the elusive Team Rocket leader, Giovanni. Giovanni is-"

Markus almost screamed as Katie switched to Animax, and then to Arirang, and then to KBS World, and the-

"Katie, switch to Channel 5, The Mentalist is on." I said while balancing all I was carrying towards them.

Markus snatched the remote and switched back to BPC.

"-will be assisting the police. He will also be surveying the lands by his Flygon, so do not be alarmed should you see a flock of Staraptors led by a large Flygon!" The commentator laughed as the Flygon blinked at the camera, obviously bored.

The Pokémon Champion was Zak, who happens to be some mysterious-looking man who wears a hood all the time. Charis described him as 'a dude in an Organization XII coat!' and Katie instantly understood. In fact, she seemed rather interested in the news on Zak now.

The Turtwig, Dragonair, Shelgon, Taillow, Pineco and Furret gathered together and drank the tea. Katie sampled it and asked me, "Barzini, where is this tea from?"

"Premium Meganium leaves from Bulgaria. They're the best!" I took a sip and sighed in contentment.

She laughed and continued sampling the tea. "This Zak seems tough…" she mumbled softly.

"Well, he's one of the Pokémon Champions; the only few people who beat the Elite Four…" Markus pointed out.

"_Now _can we watch The Mentalist?" I whined, and Markus switched it back.

We all watched Patrick Jane trying to solve a murder. It took forever, but whatever.

When we turned in, Markus and I had to wait outside of the bedroom for awhile while Katie changed into her sleeping clothes.

"I'm gonna sleep first…" Katie announced, and she gave a rather cheery goodnight, before she started to sleep, while Markus and I finished up on CSI Miami.

* * *

The next day, Katie woke all of us up on time, thankfully, and helped us in making breakfast.

We had the boring lessons today. I heard that Charis' Charmeleon got his revenge on Aeleus' Mawile by burning Minerva at the butt, and to punish Firaga, Charis gave Aeleus all of his chocolate bars. All because in a mass Pokémon Knock-out in her class, Firaga beat everyone, so the Charmeleon was so ecstatic, he rode a Donphan out to Aeleus' Contest class and attacked the Mawile.

Then, during school, we gathered again for research on Legendary Pokémon.

Once again, we discovered nothing critical or essentially helpful on Celebi while I copied down the sightings of the Pokémon.

Suddenly, Charis gasped while flipping through a book and looked up, "LOOK! Celebi's most famous sighting!" she squealed.

She pointed at a paragraph in the book excitedly,

"_Explorer Francicisco de Orellana and his team of explorers fought with tribes of the Amazon Forest, and when victory seemed at hand, a green creature, later termed Guardian of the Forest, obliterated Francicisco's team and he only got away by escaping in one of the boats. A few years later, Francicisco led the Spanish Armada to battle there, and emerged victorious, but did not go near the place where the Guardian was previously found."_

I hurriedly scanned through the list of names for sightings of Celebi, and the name Amazon Forest appeared at the top. Naturally, since Amazon started with 'A' and it's the most famous sighting…

We then took a rest for that day, but even finding that one fact had dragged time to 4pm, well after school time.

So I had to go shopping with Markus and Katie for the celebration tomorrow for the evolution of my Dratini. I left both Pokémon home today, so we could come out shopping in peace.

We bought confetti, Sunkern juice and other sorts of drinks, napkins and party materials. Katie was staring at a bracelet, which I bought for her as a gesture of friendship.

Anyway, when we went home, the house was decorated, with the Turtwig and Shelgon acting as our table as we move around placing decorations. Swoosh, the Taillow would help us drop confetti at the party, the Furret Slinkies would help serve drinks and Grenade the Pineco would stay there and NOT explode. The Dragonair Silvan, our cause for celebration, would naturally be doing absolutely nothing, so he made himself at home by messing up everyone's beds, except for Katie, much to her relief. Twigs tried to stay as cheery as possible, but he almost failed because just minutes ago he had made his own bed with his vines.

After we were done setting up the house for the party, Markus, Katie and I collapsed into the sofa, and we drank some canned drinks instead, for I was too tired to make up tea and treats. Dinner was Pizza, which Markus and I loved; besides, Pizza is the way when you're too tired to do anything.

We then took turns to watch the television, before heading for bed. I could have sworn Katie was smiling the whole day.

* * *

During the party, the guests were mainly people from my clique, but it was a small, humble party, so, a small guest list was pretty good, I guess.

Kiara came, the Nidoran and Espeon following behind her. "Congratulations on your Dragonair, Barzini!" she greeted. Spike and Aiedail exchanged weary glances, before the Espeon trotted up to the Dragonair to congratulate him. The Nidoran, Spike, wasn't particularly pleased, since he had yet to evolve, so he stubbornly sat on the couch, glaring at Silvan, who beamed back at him mockingly.

Ever since Charis introduced Kiara to me, she launched into ultimate chatterbox mode. Charis didn't seem to mind, for some reason.

"Oh, wow, so that's the party Dragonair, huh? He's soooo cool!" Kiara cooed, as she ran up to Silvan.

Elena came with Jayden and Kimberly. Their Pokémon were behind, with Kimberly's Pichu Precious seated on Kimberly's shoulder, a clarinet slung over her shoulders. "Hello, Barzini!" Elena greeted cheerfully, and then she patted Noldor cheerfully. "Oh, I didn't know your Shelgon was a doorman!" She then proceeded to dump her coat on Noldor on purpose, before walking away.

Jayden shrugged. "I'm just here for food…and just in case Kimberly gets wild, or even Daisy."

I looked behind Jayden and saw Kimberly trying to strike conversation with Aydan, who was smiling shyly at the girl. They then entered the house, with Aydan grinning at me. "Your Dragonair's really cool!" he exclaimed. "Look, Luke!" His Riolu turned to the Dragonair and immediately ran up to it. His Eevee, Evy, hopped off his shoulder and followed suit, but not before turning behind to greet Chicky. The Chikorita and Eevee both proceeded to run to the dance floor, dancing about playfully. Even Kimberly's Leafeon joined along, and her Pichu Precious started to play her clarinet.

Benjamin and Xenny came, hand in hand. "Nice place!" he shouted as they both headed in together.

Charis came, looking mildly impressed. "You didn't ruin the place after all!" she laughed, and then she smacked me playfully. Daisy Hart was behind her, grinning at the entrance.

"A party! My fave!" she squealed in delight, as she jumped in. Her Buizel, Bombi, was learning disco moves from Romeo, the Combusken. Soon enough, Benry appeared, with Aeleus and Cole tagging closely.

"All right! Everyone's here! Group _huuuuug_!" she exclaimed, before forcefully dragging Charis into a group hug with the three boys. Firaga rolled his eyes and walked in. Skittles slid past me stealthily and went straight for the snacks. Bombi, the Breloom Pita and Romeo all headed to the dance floor. Rascal tried to squeeze into the group hug, but in the end he made Benry fall over.

"YOU RASCAL!" he shouted in annoyance before everyone walked in.

"Good job on your Dragonair, Barzini," Aeleus shook my hand and looked at Noldor, trying to shake off Jayden's coat. Jayden's Pokémon, Seishin and Chikyu, were watching and laughing among themselves, despite the fact that the Kirlia and Bulbasaur could easily help him out.

Then, when Romeo tried to hit on Seishin, she responded by teleporting him upside down in the middle of the dance floor.

Soon the party began. Cole wasted no time flirting with the female guests, but I think Jayden silenced him somehow. Charis was sitting in between Aeleus and Benry, both of them seemingly trying to impress the girl.

"Um, I'm just gonna- HEY, FIRAGA! DON'T TOUCH HIS STUFF!" she screamed and bolted out of the sofa to restrain her Charmeleon from stealing my miniature Bonsly statue.

Kimberly was dancing to the beat of the Jukebox like the party animal she was, Lila was standing beside her Lucario, who was being heavily interrogated by Katie, who was trying to coax him to speak some French.

"Doesn't he speak French?" she asked Lila, who was watching her Butterfree, Cutie, who was roaming about happily, interacting with fellow Pokémon.

Lila snorted. "_French_?" she echoed incredulously. "He just speaks a tad bit of English…"

"Aye!" The Lucario, Ri, added, though he sounded a little strained.

"…That's not English!" Katie retorted.

"Well, he tried, didn't he?" was Lila's response.

"It's not!" Katie cried out again, sounding sort of hurt. She turned to me. "It's not English, right?"

To tell you the truth, I kind of like Katie, but I doubt she returns that feeling, and I know my limits well.

"Um…pirate English?" I suggested.

Malik kept looking at the window, as if something or someone was going to leap through it and kill him. Finally, when the clock struck 8pm, Tailow dropped the confetti over the head of the guests, to which Cole immediately took advantage of and tried taking it out of the hair of the girls. Jayden elbowed him, and instructed her Kirlia and Bulbasaur to learn it, so they followed him as he tried to talk with any girls.

Charis was already seated between Aeleus and Benry, and she simply ran her fingers through her hair, and it was free of any confetti.

Dragonair entered the room and sat there like a king on his throne, and the guests gave me their heartfelt congratulations that Silvan had FINALLY evolved.

Suddenly, when Cole attempted to take the confetti out of Katie's hair, despite several warnings, Katie shoved him and stormed out of the room to the balcony. Firaga then jumped in front of Cole, holding up its claws threateningly.

I stepped out to the balcony to meet an appalling sight of a girl crying. Katie was sobbing into her hands. Wow, Cole was going to get it from Jayden if she saw this…

I was naturally bad at comforting people, "Hey...it was only a joke... I'm sure you're a forgiving person... He definitely likes someone else..." Somehow, she quieted down after hearing this sentence.

As I was about to drag her back to the party, she whispered, "Barzini. Do you like anyone?"

I stopped in my tracks, and answered rather slowly and carefully, "Um…that's for me to know and for you to find out?" Inwardly I smacked my mental forehead.

She sighed after hearing the reply, and sat down on the floor. "That was a clichéd answer…" she mumbled, crossing her arms.

"Clichéd answer for the clichéd question!" I retorted back, and we both smiled at each other.

"Okay…um, sorry about how I ruined your party…" Katie murmured softly.

I shrugged. "It's okay. Well, if you come in, it'll be alright!"

Just then, Cole burst in, with Jayden being restrained by her Bulbasaur's vines. Daisy and Kimberly were giving each other bemused looks.

"BARZINI! If you come in now, Kimberly's gonna do a strip in front of your Dragonair!"

A crash was heard. "NO! Firaga, you _BAD _Charmeleon! Don't you _dare _go to Silvan just because you wanna watch the non-existent strip sho- NO! Skittles! Put that down! I am _so _sorry, Aeleus! I uh, I promise I'll return you, uh, a pair of jeans? Goodness, I think I can scrub this ketchup stain off…"

"Oh, well, Charis, will you clean it while I'm _wearing _the jeans?"

SLAP!

CLAW!

MEOW!

"Alright, alright, I get it!"

I laughed, and nudged Katie. "Come on, let's just enjoy this party!"

* * *

In the end, it turned out that Daisy plotted this with Bombi and Pita. Then, Jayden's Kirlia and Lila's Lucario overheard the conversation. Seishin used telepathy to contact Aydan's Riolu, Luke, to watch a demonstration of Ri using his aura to make Cole be under the impression that Kimberly was going to do a strip tease.

And then Luke decided to try, and it was successful when he convinced Cole that he had to get in Barzini and Katie back in, because Charis was taking bets on what they were doing. Choices included 'Kissing' and 'Lord Of the Rings', and naturally everyone voted for the latter.

"Because you're not the kisser type of guy, aren't you?" Elena commented, and I supposed she tried to imagine me do that, because in a moment, she shuddered. "Bad thought…" she mumbled, clutching her Piplup closer. Her Roselia, Blossom, gave out her favourite scent.

"Mm, Chanel! You _really _know how to cheer a girl up, Blossom!" she grinned at her Roselia.

"If Barzini kissed a girl, I'd squirm!" Charis announced, and she frowned.

"Well, thanks a lot for confidence boost…" I mumbled.

Daisy smacked me. "Come _on _people! We have some _serious _party to do!" She dragged Silvan, who was gobbling on some éclairs I bought back to his 'throne' and coughed really loudly.

"People! Today we stand here-"

"Um, I'm sitting!" Aeleus pointed out.

"THAT DOESN'T MATTER! Anyway, today we have gathered here to celebrate the transformation of a new Pokémon! Silvan the Dratini has gone a long way to become Silvan the Dragonair, so we should be celebrating, instead of telling his trainer Barzini that he'll never get a girl!"

She grabbed the nearest drink she could find, which happened to be a transparent vase filled with water and flowers. "TO SILVAN!"

Everyone raised their imaginary glasses. "To Silvan!"

"AND TO BARZINI AND HIS DATING PROSPECTS!" Elena and Charis cheered, raising their non-existent glasses even higher.

Needless to say, they shouted it even louder than before, and toasted.

* * *

**DONE! Wow. Okay. Um, so whatever legendaries you have, just stick with it. And every legendary will be featured, because I'm writing in POVs of Charis, Aydan and Kishon. Benjamin, a close friend of mine, will be writing his very own POV, with a lot of guides! Barzini will be writing his own POV, as usual. We're still accepting OCs, but please make them interesting. You can be Jayden's martial arts sidekick! Or Elena's hair clip organizer…or something! You don't necessarily have to be related to Charis or Barzini.**

**This chapter was the most edited chapter by myself. It was done by Barzini, and he actually wrote a confession scene between Barzini and Katie that was so bad I laughed at it and squirmed. Really. He wrote it under the influence of wine, but it turned out really _really _bad. When I think of my junior doing face-caressing I want to crawl in a hole and cry. If you want the whole scene, you can just ask in a review! :D It's seriously bad, and too rushed, so I deleted the whole thing. It's so bad I deleted it for the readers' sake. And my pride; NEARLY ALL OF MY STORIES ARE RELATED TO ROMANCE!  
**

**Also, an unedited author's note from Barzini: "My Os are coming…shortened is my life, so is my writing time. But fear not! Free periods enable me to upload or write stories, so this series will still run on as long as our plot lasts. 10****th**** of January may see ceasing of activities or an outburst, depending on Charis' and my results…Wish us luck (or else) and continue to support our story!"**

**Yep. On the 10****th**** of January, I decide whether I end up an awesome author (my lifelong ambition) or become a road sweeper. And Barzini gets his Higher Chinese results. I'm sort of nervous, but it has quelled since I already applied for a school of my choice. Not many people know this, because people in my class expect me to aim for the top junior college, but I'm going to a polytechnic. It's sort of a specialized school, and I'm going for a course that will hopefully allow me to do something I love – writing, through journalism, and one day, maybe I'll publish my own novel, but that's so unlikely because I bet there's tons of other people like me who have so much ideas… **

**So, anyway, not even Barzini knows this. I think I didn't tell you. Yup, so there you have it. I'm just hoping I meet the criteria for getting into my course. If I don't, my entire Fanfiction account will be on hiatus until I sort myself out. Barzini has nearly a year before his major major exams, so good luck, junior! **


	7. Attack: Charis' POV

**WE DID IT! OH YES! BARZINI AND I TOTALLY OWNED O LEVELS!  
**

* * *

I decided to take action on Firaga and Skittles, because they have been like rotten little children – always stealing stuff and making a complete nuisance of themselves. And today…well, today I had to meet with my grandmother who hates me.

Why does she hate me? Well, she hates me because I am _horrible _at Chinese. She once won the lottery, and secretly gave money to all her favourite grandsons and granddaughters, but she left _us _out. It was only when my mother called my aunt and my aunt casually asked how much did we get when we found it out.

And despite the fact that her absolute favourite granddaughter is living in Singapore, she _never _comes for stupid dinner. Instead, the grandkids she hates are the usual ones who turn up.

Blame me for never having anything to do on evenings.

But then, Benry decided that today was a pretty good day for a match, and Firaga was so upset when I turned him down, I had to call my mum to tell her that I'd be late. I was _just _supposed to go back to my dorm to pick up a few things…

"_Why_?" she demanded. "Are you _seeing_ someone? HUH? Don't make me call Barzini…"

Barzini? Heh. He's probably so knocked out from his party, he wouldn't pick up. Daisy spiked his drink with a legal who-knows-what and now he's so drowsy, Firaga managed to steal all his berries and he didn't even say a word. Katie and Markus had been taking care of him. The poor Dragonair Silvan had to learn to adapt to his new body by himself.

"I'm _not_! I'm just having a quick battle. Seriously. That's all. Nothing to hide! You can even drive over and watch! Ask Popo to come." I looked at Benry, who grinned. 'Popo' is Chinese for 'grandmother'. It doesn't actually sound like 'Popo' if you say it according to the English word…but if you're Chinese-speaking, you should get it.

The last time she actually saw me was during the time we went to collect my scholarship. Well, it was mostly to show off. And I honestly didn't bother about her; I mean, I had money! Why bother about a wizened old woman who'd just watch if you fell down?

…Oh yes, she already did that to me.

My mum seemed sort of convinced. "Okay, we'll drive over now. You go ahead and battle first, we can watch how you fight."

Then, she hung up. I rolled my eyes and shoved my phone back in my wallet. I looked at Benry, who was getting ready his Combusken, Romeo, and his Poochyena, Rascal.

Last night, Romeo and Firaga decided to fight. Actually, from what I heard from Benjamin and Xenny, Romeo initiated the fight. Firaga was drunk from drinking Sunkern juice, so he couldn't fight very well.

Sunkern juice isn't alcoholic, but it makes Pokémon drunk. The reason why is for me to never know – it's not in the syllabus.

Usually, I'd talk about the battle, but it was pretty short, because I could tell Benry wasn't giving his all, and neither was his Combusken. So in a short while, Firaga got his revenge, and by the time my mum came, I was already done. "Well, Benry, thanks for the battle."

"Um, no prob. A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do!"

I rolled my eyes at him. "Then fight _like _a man, please…"

Benry sighed. "I'll accompany you to the foyer, if you want! I mean, uh…" He cast a glance at Romeo and nodded at me. "Yup. A man's duty. Come on, let's go!" He grabbed my arm and we started to walk, with Firaga sniggering behind my back.

* * *

I poked at my Doduo meat mindlessly, listening to my parents talk to my grandmother. Harley looked pretty miserable too; he was introduced to my grandmother and uncle and she didn't like him since he couldn't speak fluent Mandarin.

"Mum, I'm gonna walk around the shopping centre!" I announced, as I finished the last bit of food, grabbed my phone and walked out, smiling politely at my grandmother, who simply ignored me.

"Oh, I'll follow you, then," Harley added, smiling at my mum. "I'm sure you don't mind, do you?"

"Oh, not at all!" my mum quickly said, laughing. "Go on ahead!"

* * *

"You really hate your lunches, don't you?" Harley asked casually, as I exited the mall and took a deep breath of fresh air. He didn't say anything when I didn't even walk around, but he _did _give me a weird look.

"Yeah, I do. You can't have Chinese food every weekend, right?" I lamented, crossing my arms. I released Firaga and Skittles from their Pokéballs, since Pokémon weren't allowed inside. They both looked relieved that I managed to release them.

Harley rolled his eyes, and released his Arcanine and Lapras. Jupiter was stretching his body, yawning and trying to groom himself, while Neptune was looking about, presumably for some water. Harley uncapped his bottle and tossed some over the Lapras, causing her to coo in delight.

Firaga went up to Jupiter and tried to climb aboard the Arcanine, but failed when he accidentally grabbed a tuft of Jupiter's fur and ripped it…by accident! Gosh, that _stupid _Charmeleon…!

Jupiter roared and snarled at Firaga, who responded with an equally evil snarl. Then, he tried to claw Jupiter, but the Arcanine bit his arm, threw him down to the ground and pinned him down.

"Jupiter! Back off!" Harley snapped. Jupiter growled and slowly leapt off the poor Charmeleon, glaring at him angrily and trying to lick at what was once soft fur.

Firaga ran back to me, scoffing at the Arcanine. "Char!" he spat, and then he angrily sat on the ground, shooting death glares at Jupiter.

"Gosh, I'm so sorry about Jupiter!" I apologized, looking at Jupiter and Harley. Jupiter grunted and scowled at Firaga, who rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out.

Stupid Charmeleon.

Within seconds, Jupiter had launched a Flamethrower that caused Firaga to fly into a bush. The Charmeleon stood up and dusted off the dirt hastily, before retaliating with a Slash.

"Firaga! BAD CHARMELEON! Stop fighting!" I yelled, trying not to get burnt or scratched. Skittles sighed and licked her paw nonchalantly; it was so mundane seeing Firaga fight because of something stupid. Once, he was so restless he attacked my mother's Staraptor all because the Staraptor had to retrieve my shirt from under his butt. Before anything could get out of hand, I had to scold him for dirtying my shirt.

"Ugh, forget this…" I mumbled as I crossed my arms. Harley looked rather amused by the battle.

Firaga was soon defeated by Jupiter's Extremespeed. They say you can't _see _Extremespeed, because its way too fast. All I saw was this – a second ago, Firaga taunting Jupiter by shaking his butt, the next second he was down on his butt, completely wiped out.

Skittles snorted and smiled at him. Firaga rolled his eyes and sulked as Jupiter happily trotted over to Harley, looking pretty happy with himself. "Good job, Jupiter," Harley complimented, scratching his head affectionately. He then looked at Firaga. "I think your Charmeleon and Delcatty have tons of potential!"

"Really?" I beamed at Firaga and Skittles. Firaga ignored me out of shame and Skittles was distracted by a girl's Mareep. I sighed. Do they…?

"Yeah, I couldn't battle _that _well when I was your age…" Harley mused, shaking his head, supposedly in nostalgia or something stupid like that. He then lit up. "I could train you in Pokémon battling, if you want. I mean, we can battle every once in a while, and I can come up with new strategies for you!"

"Um, don't you have work?"

"Nah, I'm still waiting."

"…And my mum lets you stay on?" I asked incredulously.

He smiled as he patted his guitar case, slung on his shoulder. "Trusty ol' guitar."

* * *

The next day was pretty exciting. Firstly, my Pokémon Contest lesson.

My teacher was rather flamboyant. One of the most promising coordinators from Lanseal, he graduated and tried to fulfill his dream, but he failed and ended up as a teacher.

Usually, classes are paired up for Contest lessons. The first class observes the appeals, while the second one does the appeals, and Mr Juan would usually point out the highlights of the appeals, then mark us down accordingly. That way, we learn from others and have a hands-on experience.

Thankfully, my class was appealing today, and I was in the first batch. I was using Skittles in my appeal and then using Firaga for my battle.

You know how in the Pokémon games, they have Contests for coolness, cuteness, beauty, intelligence and the like? Well, they actually tried that once decades back, but it got really confusing, and really good coordinators kept losing. For example, Skittles can do a beauty contest, but the first reaction I get is "How CUTE!" In the old days, this affected your marks. And most of the times, the Pokémon there are really cool. Even a Milotic. Come on, I wouldn't say that a Milotic is beautiful first, I'd say "OMG, A MILOTIC; COOOOOOL!"

But the standard Contest still rates Pokémon based on coolness, cuteness, beauty, intelligence and toughness. So, your Pokémon has to be an all-rounder, or you have to rely on at least three main components out of the five to get a decent score in class.

For me, Skittles rules in cuteness, beauty and coolness. Sometimes toughness, because once, her appeal went wrong a few years back when she was still a Skitty, and she plummeted down from the high ceiling onto the ground. She landed on all fours, and when the Skitty stumbled out, they found four deep imprints where her legs were in the ground.

Naturally, she ruled the entire class appeals that day.

Kimberly Younan was pretty good at Contest stuff, because most of the time she got full marks for cuteness. And usually, it was done so well she scores. Intelligence is her weak point, but then again, it's everyone's weak point.

Since this was an official contest, we had to dress up specially for this lesson. So everyone left their normal clothes for something fancy…I think.

Kimberly and her Pichu, Precious, were dressed like princesses, which would greatly boost their marks. She was holding out a large red scarf, and as she walked onto the stage, everyone clapped politely.

"You may begin your appeal, dear," Mr Juan smiled at her.

"Precious, Volt Tackle!"

She waved the scarf in front of the Pichu, beckoning her to rush forward. Precious first moved a safe distance from Kimberly, and then she started to charge up. Suddenly, the Pichu jumped and then charged towards Kimberly as a ball of electricity. Just before Precious hit Kimberly, the slender girl did a spin, flinging the scarf elegantly to the other side, like in movies where the Tauros gets agitated and flies towards a cool dude using a red scarf…without getting killed.

Instead of interrupting the Volt Tackle, Precious bounced off the wall and launched back to Kimberly, who didn't even flinch as she twirled back again. Soon, Precious started to repeat her actions at a blistering speed, shooting bright sparks in all directions.

Mr Juan looked wildly impressed. He was already standing up and clapping with fervour. "Bravo, Kimberly!"

As he said that, Precious leapt up in the air, sending sparks down onto the crowd. Then, she exploded in a ball of electricity that sent people screaming.

Skittles rolled her eyes. My Delcatty was, I admit, rather eccentric and some might say dumb. But when it came to Contests, she would become this overly excited ball of purple and beige, a proud Delcatty who would scoff at every single performing act, and then show off her skills on stage. It was like she had two distinctly different personalities, pole apart from each other. Even Firaga got a little scared when we saw her hiss at a Glameow who finished her appeal. Then, when Skittles won the Contest, she snorted at the poor Glameow. My classmate was so insulted she spammed my e-mail with hate messages.

But then again, who uses e-mail and computers anyway? We have to walk our Pokémon, feed them, entertain them, train them, scold them…it's like I entered motherhood at 7 the moment I received a happy little Charmander. I only saw those e-mails 2 years later.

Precious was still emitting sparks and then she twirled around at high speeds when Kimberly instructed, "Charge!"

Then the Pichu became a huge light ball, bouncing up and down cutely. She rolled about quickly, like a Roll-out, and the light became so blinding you could see what word the Pichu traced out – WIN.

"FANTASTIC!" Mr Juan cried out in anguish. He wiped away a few tears as Precious finished her appeal. Kimberly beamed at Pichu. "She's so marvelously cute!"

"Well, my dear Precious _is _cute!" Kimberly enthused, looking at Pichu in awe. "She's adorable!"

I have never heard so many synonyms of 'cute' used in one conversation, but it happened.

"And she's so _cute_- Whaaa?" Kimberly gasped as her Pichu started to glow.

"She's evolving!" I whispered, widening my eyes.

"Stop! Precious! _Please_!" Kimberly fell to her knees, facing her glowing Pichu, and started to sob. "You're cute enough for me! You don't need to evolve!"

"Pi?" Suddenly, the light faded, and Precious smiled at Kimberly, cleaning away her tears. "Piiiiichu!"

"Oh, Precious!" Kimberly cried as she hugged her Pichu emotionally.

Pokémon are able to control their evolution at will. It all depends on their willpower...and usually strength. I have heard of an elderly woman who had a Machop, whom she loved very much. One day, an earthquake struck, and the house collapsed. She was still alive, crying out to her Machop to save himself while he could, but the Machop refused. He tried to lift up the beam pinning the house down, but couldn't, and he was so determined to lift it, he evolved into a Machoke. The Machoke successfully saved his master and carried her to the hospital.

It was so sweet that my mum cut it out of the newspapers and made everyone else read it. Then she enrolled poor Medicham and Staraptor into a weight lifting course.

"NEXT!" Mr Juan called out. Skittles bounded up to the stage. My job for today was fairly simple – remind Skittles of the first move. Then she'll take care of the rest.

We had been rehearsing since Mr Juan announced that today's Contest would take up 25 percent of our final-year score. And Skittles liked the routine so much, she practised it herself and perfected it. It was admittedly quite fun and relaxed, because it consisted of Skittles' Ice Beam, Bounce and other crazy things that said Delcatty loved to execute.

Mr Juan suddenly looked very sullen at my appearance…or at Kimberly's leave. "You may begin…um, who are you again?"

I rolled my eyes. "Charis. And my Delcatty, Skittles." On cue, Skittles nodded, grinning at Mr Juan, who still had a confused look on his face.

"Um…"

Okay. He clearly doesn't remember me.

"My Delcatty blasted your Rapidash last week with Water Pulse…?"

Skittles was _just _playing around! She was practising her routine by herself while I tried to groom Firaga, and suddenly, the stupid Rapidash fell to the ground, all wet and soaking, his mane barely there and Skittles was happily looking at her fallen target.

Mr Juan was so distraught his Electivire paralyzed Skittles, and that was when Firaga took the opportunity to wreck the brush I was using, jump in front of Skittles, and then blast the poor Electivire in the face with Fire Blast. To make matters worse, while Mr Juan's Electivire, Beast, attacked Firaga for that Fire Blast, Skittles launched a…Hyper Beam.

I still don't know how she did it. Perhaps it was the time Aeleus tried to teach me how to use TMs effectively, and he popped in a Hyper Beam TM to teach Swirls, his Poliwhirl. Swirls executed it pretty well when we left the library to train, and Skittles wasn't acting abnormal or anything….

Then, with both Beast and his Rapidash, White, down, his _other _Pokémon, a Meganium named Megan and a Blissey named Volume tried to take them down, but Firaga launched a Fire Blast at Megan and Skittles started using Ice Beam and a lot of other attacks until all four Pokémon were down. I had no idea how they did it, but they did.

I nearly got detention that day, but then Barzini teamed up with Katie to argue against it. It was mostly because Barzini needed my help with his math after school, but still. He nearly lost, but then Benjamin and Xenny came up to us. Benjamin was a debater and Xenny had the wits, so they decided to have a little fun by arguing. I left with the four of them praising Firaga and Skittles, and without detention at 4.

Anyway, suddenly, Mr Juan realized who I was and then glared at me. "You may begin…" he mumbled, but he hurriedly called back all four Pokémon back into their Pokéballs, shooting me a worried look, which soon contorted into hate.

The Delcatty licked her fur and looked at me expectantly. "Skittles, Water Pulse on the ground!"

She launched a Water Pulse downwards, and the rings of water she released sent her flying up into the air. Without any further instructions, she used Ice Beam on the pillar of water, such that the rings of water and the thin sheet of water shielding it were frozen solid. I could see the loops of ice held firmly by the sheet of ice.

Skittles landed on her finished pillar, leapt up, and repeated the routine, until she completed 5 pillars, all neatly arranged like points of a star. She then froze the ground, with a large chunk of ice slightly raised.

"Double-Edge!"

The Delcatty lunged in with Double Edge, and the ice smashed into pieces, sending dust and ice bits up.

"Now, Thunderbolt!"

In the midst of dust, she sent 5 thin lines of electricity into the middle of the 5 pillars, smashing only the platform on top, as she finally finished her masterpiece – a Delcatty ice statue.

Initially, I was just planning another finish move, but when we tried it out, Skittles had somehow made an ice sculpture of herself. I was, and am, still confused and befuddled by her, but it earns me points…right?

I walked up to Skittles, hoping that I wouldn't slip and fall on the ice. I did that once during practising, and all of a sudden, I was lifted up by Benry and Aeleus. It's crazy; they're practically everywhere for some insane reason I cannot seem to understand.

Mr Juan looked impressed, but all he did was to nod and dismiss me. "NEXT!"

You can never acknowledge awesomeness when you're face to face with it...

* * *

The battling part was cancelled. Sort of. We had a charity bazaar and our class was selling a huge number of Roselia perfumes, courtesy of Elena and Blossom, cookies the girls made in the Home Economics kitchens, and some other tidbits. Ultimately, whatever money we collect will go to charity. Which is why all we did was to make perfumes and cookies – they're practically priceless!

They weren't exactly selling like hotcakes, firstly because they weren't _really _hot cakes, and secondly, they looked lumpy. The tidbits didn't sell as well, so Elena, Jayden and I started to parade about the school to gather buyers.

"Come on, Blossom, show us some stuff! Petal Dance!" Elena called out. The Roselia twirled about, dancing in the gentle breeze as students visiting the stall, and the canteen, were overwhelmed by the aromatic perfumes, and sakura petals floating about. Her Piplup, Aquabub looked up in awe, and then decided to add some bubbles into the scene.

"Come and buy some perfumes!" Jayden called out, gesturing to Elena's basket of perfumes. Instantly, Blossom flitted to them, as a group of enthusiastic students followed the Roselia, eager to take in more of the scent.

Skittles and Firaga were pretty excited about selling cookies. Surprisingly, they didn't steal any of them, though I caught Firaga trying to lick the spoon. The Charmeleon was walking about, talking to other Pokémon into buying some cookies, while Skittles tried to use Charm and Attract to pull in some customers.

Yes, Charm and Attract are rather different. In Charm, the Pokémon or person could be enamored by Skittles, but it would not be enough for the Pokémon to follow, or not fight, so Attract seals the deal by luring Pokémon into falling for her headfirst. So Skittles was mostly using Charm.

Cole went up to us and looked at our cookies. "Are those _rocks_?"

Jayden shot him a death glare and we all looked protectively at our cookies. "They're cookies!" she snapped. Her Kirlia and Bulbasaur, Seishin and Chikyu, glared at him

Elena nodded her head in agreement. She nearly shoved the basket into Cole's face. "Wanna buy? One cookie, one dollar to the needy!"

"It's good karma!" I added energetically. I waved a cookie into Cole's face. "Come on! Just buy it!"

Malik walked past, with his Vibrava and Sandslash, Marcy and Burrows. He made a face when he saw our cookies. "Do they have like, _pebbles _in them…?" he asked nervously, looking at Burrows, who rolled his eyes and pulled out Malik's wallet. Marcy picked out a two-dollar note and dropped it in our basket.

"Here you go, Marcy!" I let Firaga give the cookie to Marcy and Burrows, and they soon ripped the cookie wrapper apart, chomping down on our cookies.

Malik frowned, as Marcy dropped his wallet into his hands. "I hope I have enough money for lunch…" he mumbled as he walked off.

"Thanks for the ka-_ching_!" Jayden and Elena shouted back at him, before we laughed and high-fived each other. "We make an awesome team!"

Daisy and Kimberly had teamed up for the cookie-selling thing, and to gather money, Kimberly graciously offered her name to Daisy, who quickly spread a rumour that Kimberly would kiss any guy who bought cookies after school by the general office. Her plan was fairly simple – the Principal, who is usually in the general office, would hear the commotion, come out, and disperse the boys, while telling them that it is not possible that Kimberly would hold such deals.

It sort of defeats the purpose of donating for charity, but at least we have fun doing it! You don't get to handle tons of money everyday, you know!

"I'll buy some." I turned around to see Aeleus, holding out some money. "I mean, it's for charity, right?"

"Can do. Here you go!" I handed him a small packet of cookies, but as he took it from me, Benry came along.

"Oh, heya, Charis! Gimme um, _two _of them!" Benry handed me two dollars, and I happily obliged. I mean, they were giving it for _charity_!

Aeleus sighed and looked at his Mawile and Poliwhirl, Minerva and Swirls. "Oh, they look hungry. I'll take four, now," he mumbled as he took out his wallet and pulled out four dollars.

Benry and his Combusken, Romeo exchanged skeptical glances. "I…have enough money for, um, eight cookies!" he declared, as he triumphantly pulled out ten dollars.

Aeleus didn't even flinch as he took out twelve dollars and handed it to me.

"Woah…Charis, you just got twenty-two bucks!" Jayden exclaimed, as she started to count the number of cookies we had in the basket. "All because of your charm and-"

Elena shut her mouth before Jayden could say anything else, and then smiled at Aeleus and Benry. "Well, thanks!"

"Damn…Romeo, we're broke!" Benry wailed, as I handed twenty-two cookies to both of them. Aeleus took his share and slipped them in his backpack. Just then, Benry's Poochyena, Rascal bounded back to Benry, happily holding out some of Barzini's berries.

"YOU RASCAL!" Benry cried out, as he fell forward to his bewildered Poochyena by himself. "You made me pay for those berries…!"

Barzini's class were selling berries, and ever since Barzini planted that Sitrus plant, his business had been really good!

"Oh, is that a Sitrus berry?" I asked as Firaga went over to probe the berry in Rascal's mouth.

Before anyone could answer, the Principal's voice suddenly sounded. "It is truly a pleasure to have you here, Mr Zak!"

Zak is the Pokémon Champion…or just one of the few _dozens _of them. He was in a black cape, his face hidden by the shadows. "I'm looking for a brave student to challenge me."

Pokémon Champions are simply trainers or professionals or just normal everyday people who defeated the Elite Four. They have some really big sum of money, an awesome reputation, and a portrait of them and their

Firaga was already at his feet by the time I could properly react, tugging at his robe wildly. Skittles simply thought that this was a marketing strategy, so she sidled up to him and purred. His Sceptile, Blader, simply smiled at the Delcatty.

"Oh, goodness, I'm _really _sorry about that, Mr Zak!" I exclaimed apologetically as I gently pulled Skittles away from him.

"Oh, Charis!" the Principal exclaimed in delight. She knew my name mostly because I do my work well. "We have a volunteer!"

* * *

I cannot believe this. We're having a single battle, and obviously, Firaga is going up against a Pokémon Champion's Sceptile. And passes to the battle at the field cost 3 dollars; they're going to charity, apparently.

I watched Zak and shuddered. He was staring at me; I was sure of it. I feel it all the time whenever Barzini's berries get stolen; he'd glare at me until I relent and force Firaga to give him back whatever he took.

"Charis versus Mr Zak; Charmeleon versus Sceptile! BEGIN!"

Well…here goes nothing. "Firaga, Flamethrower, far-range!"

Firaga kept his distance, a good few metres away from Blader, the Sceptile calmly waiting for his master's command. He launched a few solid Flamethrowers at Blader, who dodged them quickly.

"Blader, use Leaf Blade!"

I watched him battle before. His Sceptile was well-known for lightning-fast reflexes and hard-hitting attacks. "Firaga, Fire Spin to protect!"

Firaga leapt into the air, cloaking himself in flames as he surveyed his surroundings for Blader. The Sceptile leapt up swiftly, and just before Sceptile could land Leaf Blade, the Charmeleon launched a mean Fire Blast in the poor guy's face.

"All right!" I cheered, and the students cheered along, watching the match energetically.

Zak didn't flinch, as Blader landed back to where he was, rubbing off some ash from his face. "Solarbeam."

Oh. CRAP.

"OVERHEAT!" I screamed, as Blader released his ultimate cannon of doom – Solarbeam. Immediately, Firaga retaliated with Overheat. The smaller Overheat blasted through the centre of Solarbeam and hit Blader, while much of Solarbeam hit the Charmeleon. Both Pokémon stumbled backwards, though Firaga _did _fall to the ground.

"Firaga, you okay?" I called out, and the Charmeleon stood up, shaking off the damage. I looked as what was supposed to be Zak's head bobbing up and down in approval. Come on, in that stupid cape I wouldn't be able to see any feature of him. I mean, who wears a _black cape _in _Singapore_? I mean, it's so horribly humid and hot that it-

BOOOM!

I widened my eyes in horror as Firaga quickly dodged away from what was definitely a tough Hyper Beam. Students started to flee the field, and I watched, stunned, as I saw them.

Team Rocket grunts. The bright maroon 'R' emblazoned on their sweatshirts. Swarms of them, trying to overcome Zak's Pokémon. He had called out not just his Sceptile, Blader, but a Typlosion, a Flygon, a Tyranitar, Empoleon and Swampert. I remember them from TV. Blader, Typlo the Typlosion, Lizzy the Flygon, a Tyranitar named Tyrane, Marsh the Swampert and Wingshard the Empoleon. They were attacking Team Rocket's Pokémon with much difficulty – strength was indeed in numbers.

"Students! FIGHT THEM!" I heard Zak command as several students summoned their Pokémon to fight off some tough-looking Pokémon. Several pairs of Nidoking, a Steelix…

"CHAR!" Firaga snapped me out of my thoughts and tried to drag me off the field, as a fierce-looking Exploud appeared before me, ready to flatten me into prata.

…Great. Here I am, with a Pokémon ready to kill me, and all I can think of is my lunch - roti prata with cheese. Perfect; really great. Goodness, I should have some curry with that…

Skittles and Firaga stood in front of me, snapping at the Exploud to back off. Firaga handed him a Focus Punch, and Skittles froze his legs (puny ones, actually…they _are _kind of short) to the ground. Then, they both forced me to get up and run.

I pushed past the debris and tried to collect my thoughts. The classrooms! Yeah! My classroom, to be exact; it was on the first floor so I didn't need much running. So I could just…stay outside…and…

"Just _what _are you doing here and standing around?" Aeleus shouted at me, looking pretty bewildered and flustered. His Mawile and Poliwhirl were by his side. Minerva was looking about frantically, trying to ensure none of us got killed, while Swirls was patting Minerva, calming her down by a little.

"Um…I was thinking of a way to escape?" I ventured, giving him an uncertain smile.

He rolled his eyes. "Well, by the time you find out one, you'll be dead. Now come on, let's go."

We both started to run, trying to follow the students in front of us. Some stopped in their tracks to fight off Team Rocket's Pokémon, while others simply ran. It felt like a stampede, but thankfully, no one fell or-

"Shit!" I cursed as I tripped and fell. I said things too soon…

"You okay?" Aeleus asked as I slowly got up, shaking a little. He held my arm steadily as we continued to walk.

"Um, yeah, I'm sort of okay." I mumbled, though I realized I sprained my ankle. "Okay, maybe not my ankle, but…"

"Okay, then just sling your arm over my shoulder. I'll support you, 'kay?" he instructed, and I looked at him with mild uncertainty. "I don't bite, but maybe I smell a little…"

"_What_?"

Aeleus rolled his eyes and smiled. "I'm just kidding! Just…come on. You're hurt. Come on, Minerva, and Swirls."

The four Pokémon followed us, eyeing their surroundings carefully. We almost made it to the canteen, until suddenly, a large Torterra blocked out path. He slammed a vine onto the entrance of the canteen, sealing off the path and smirked at us.

"Swirls, use Ice Beam at his eyes!" Aeleus commanded as the Poliwhirl stepped back and launched a strong stream of ice that stunned the large Pokémon. Skittles did the same, freezing his legs, before we quickly ran to the side, along the large fence that lined the field. There was an exit at the end, but it was blocked slightly by a group of Pokémon, attacking the teachers' Pokémon.

Mr Juan looked at us and gestured to the exit. "Come on, hurry up. White, Beast, clear the path!"

His Rapidash and Electivire launched a Flamethrower and Thunderbolt respectively, and we ran through the path, with Firaga and Skittles apologizing to Beast and White for the last lesson at the same time.

I was practically dragged by Aeleus as we tried to move as fast as we could to the canteen, or the entrance of the school. "Does it still hurt?"

I stood on my two feet. "Nah, it doesn't. Yup. Lemme just wal- urf!" As I took a step forward, I fell again, my ankle giving way. Firaga and Skittles tried to hoist me up as Aeleus sighed and slung my arm across his shoulder nonchalantly.

"At least we're safe…for now," Aeleus commented, as he walked past yet another sealed exit. "Stupid Zak; he attracted Team Rocket here anyway."

"Well…I hope his cape gets burnt!" I declared, huffing. "He should've thought about us students! We could've been killed!"

Aeleus grinned. "Yeah. I hope his face gets burnt too. He'll need a cape after that!"

"Uh huh!" I agreed, as we found a corner of the school to sit down. The bench there looked untouched; it was usually used by students who wanted to study or have a quiet moment. We both plopped down, exhausted from running…or hobbling, in my case.

Before we could enjoy a peaceful moment, a Team Rocket grunt…or executive came along. He had a Machamp and Metagross by his side, smiling at us in the most evil way a Pokémon could smile possible. Firaga, Skittles, Minerva and Swirls all stood in front of us, ready to fight.

"Well, we need as many hostages as possible in exchange for those documents we need…so I guess you two can join in!" he remarked, giving us a very evil smile, in the most evil way possible, but worse. "Take them down, guys, and bring the two students to us."

"You can't get us alive!" Aeleus shouted, before he turned to me. "Um, sorry, I always wanted to say that."

I would've smacked him really hard for making a joke in this sort of situation, but as I already said, we were in a pretty tough situation, so I didn't bother smacking him. Besides, I may fall down.

"Firaga, Flamethrower at Metagross! Skittles, freeze them!" I shouted.

Aeleus already made Swirls go head to head with Machamp, and they were both throwing elemental punches at each other. Machamp was just throwing as many Thunderpunches as possible, while Swirls was barely managing. Before Swirls could block it, Machamp landed his strongest Thunderpunch, and then finished off with a Low Kick that knocked out Swirls, sending him flying into Aeleus, who slammed into a bench, semi-conscious.

"Aeleus! Hey, come on, make sure you keep your eyes open!" I nearly screamed in his face. Machamp used a Focus Punch on Skittles before the Delcatty could retaliate, throwing her towards Firaga and Minerva. Firaga quickly dodged Skittles but Minerva was not fast enough. She slammed into a wall, and Metagross took the opportunity to wrestle his legs free of the ice Skittles made.

"Firaga, use Flamethrower!" I commanded, as I tried to drag Aeleus to a wall. Firaga nodded and threw a flamethrower in Metagross, as Minerva protected Skittles. She used Iron Head on Machamp, but he simply shrugged the Mawile off with a powerful Seismic Toss.

"Char!" Firaga cried out, looking frantically at Aeleus, myself and his fallen companions. He growled at Machamp and Metagross, and swiftly, he threw a Fire Blast in Metagross' face, knocking Metagross out, surprisingly.

"Good job, Firaga!" I shouted, smiling. I finally managed to push the stupid broken bench away, and now I had Aeleus' head on my lap so I could slap him awake while waiting for help. "Now, far-range attacks on the Machamp!"

Firaga went back to my side and started to use Flamethrowers at Machamp, trying to deter him from coming over for physical attacks. "Fire Blast!"

The Charmeleon gathered all his strength and used Fire Blast, which hit Machamp squarely in the face.

"Machamp, Revenge!"

Oh shit. This is _not _supposed to happen. What was suppose to happen is that Machamp faints and the Singapore Armed Forces come and detain the stupid Team Rocket people. Everyone will be okay and well, school will be cancelled until further notice! And…Aeleus and I will be declared heroes! Firaga would be the Pokémon Hero!

But _not _this.

Firaga glanced at Aeleus and I, and he gave me a small smile before charging in, his claws raised to meet Machamp's fist. He ran really quickly, nearly roaring, and then…a flash of light engulfed Firaga. Suddenly, I could see wings flapping about…oh crap, I'm dead _already_?

…Wait, then how can I feel Aeleus' head?

"ROOAR!" The light was gone and there was this Charizard in front of me, smacking Machamp down, picking him up, flying all the way up and crashing through the ceiling into the air…before plummeting down at high speeds and slamming Machamp into the floor, barely centimeters away from me.

The Charizard stood up, and then gave me a goofy grin very _very _typical of Firaga.

"You…_destroyed _the ceiling!" I scolded, as Firaga looked at himself admiringly. He blinked at me and snorted. I knew he didn't like this place; he got owned at Pokémon Uno here before.

"Hey, Charis! You're SAFE!" I turned to look at Elena and Jayden, weary from running and battling. Beside Elena was a brand new Prinplup, Aquabub. and Seishin the Kirlia was resting on top of a rather relieved Ivysaur, Chikyu. Elena was carrying Blossom in her arms, the Roselia exhausted from fighting.

"Chikyu, use Vine Whip! You're not getting away with this, executive number three!" Jayden shouted triumphantly as Chikyu grabbed at the Team Rocket Executive's arms, legs and torso.

"Yeah, I am! Woah, your Pokémon evolved too!" I exclaimed in amazement as Number Three fell to the ground, writhing as Chikyu lifted him upside down and shook him. Papers flew out of his shirt and Firaga picked them and handed it to me reluctantly.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll find something for you to burn…" I mumbled, as I browsed through his notes. Elena and Jayden sat down next to me and read, while Blossom weakly used Sweet Scent to wake everyone up, before using Synthesis. Firaga was flapping his wings proudly for everyone to gush over.

"So…many…words…" Aeleus groaned when he saw the notes, and then proceeded to sleep on my lap. Skittles happily curled up beside my other lap to doze off as well.

"Shut up. I'm reading." I muttered as I continued to read it. They were researching on Lugia, Ho-Oh…Mewtwo?

Mewtwo was sort of their genetic experiment gone wrong. It was highly publicized, because Team Rocket had a blog and they had a live cam of Mewtwo's transformation. And it cause a huge scandal and things like that. Come _on_, it's in Social Studies! Current affairs, anyone?

Firaga lifted me up, ignoring Aeleus as his head fell to the floor. Then he…started to fly.

* * *

"Charis! You're okay!" Elena, Jayden and Kiara were by my side, along with Aeleus and Benry. They had several plasters and bandages – Aeleus had his head wrapped up in bandage and Kiara's arm was in a cast.

"Um…what happened?"

They all paused for a moment, before Aeleus smiled and said. "You fainted when your Charizard flew you in the air. I didn't know you were afraid of heights!"

"And you…um, sort of threw up in mid-air on the field." Jayden added.

"But it's okay! You hit Mr Juan; great job up there!" Elena laughed, smacking me on the back.

…I did?

"Pretty awful sight! Mr Juan was all "MY CLOTHES!" and then after that all his Pokémon started to attack Firaga but he just flew about and laughed at them until he lost control and slammed into a tree. Which is why your nose is all plastered." Kiara pointed to my nose. I tried to twitch it, but felt a sharp pain through my head. "Oh, and the doctor told us to tell you not to twitch it."

"Thanks a lot, Kiara…" I mumbled sarcastically. Skittles bounced onto my bed and licked my nose reassuringly.

"It's okay. You were pretty lucky; tons of people got more than just a screwed-up nose. I mean, look at Aeleus and his poor head!" Kiara babbled on, until Aeleus himself stopped her.

"Kiara, just stop talking…!" Aeleus groaned as he rested his head on the side of my bed. "My head…!"

Cole suddenly popped his head into the ward and smiled at us. "Yo guys!" he greeted us.

"Hey, Cole…" we all greeted back wearily.

"Come on, where's the excitement, guys?" Cole asked, grinning at all of us.

"Well, you _were_ in the toilet the whole time and didn't realize anything until you came out…" Jayden remarked, rolling her eyes.

"How was the toilet, though? Clean? Perhaps _unharmed_?" Elena spat back too sweetly, flashing him a grin as she looked at her bandaged fist. "You didn't need to punch a Team Rocket Grunt in his face…"

Jayden rolled her eyes again. "Which was why I made Seishin control them…? Geez, you didn't need to poke him in the eyes _and _break his nose at the same time, right?"

"Well, anyway, it was an experience I would never forget!" Elena commented, grinning to herself and her fist. She looked at her Prinplup. "And Aquabub evolved when he saw my fist bleeding, so all went well!"

"Prinp!" Aquabub agreed.

"Veee!" Chikyu added, high-fiving Aquabub with her vine. Jayden sighed and smiled.

Kiara looked at Spike, her Nidorino. "Spike evolved while we were fighting a Nidorina; pretty crazy! You should've _seen _us! We were pretty epic, and-"

Aeleus let out a low rumbling noise and clutched his head in pain. "Shut _up _Kiara…"

Rascal was looking around at all his newly evolved Pokémon, trying to support his new weight. The Mightyena was still the same ol' Rascal, albeit slightly more mature, but nevertheless clumsy. He tripped over Benry's feet, whimpering in pain. Romeo looked at his same old Combusken self and sighed.

"Well…how is everyone?" I asked, looking at everyone. Firaga was in the midst of digging his nose, and when he saw me, he scrambled to stuff the booger underneath the hospital bed.

Gross. And suddenly, I thought of Barzini.

"Oh, yeah, how's Barzini?" I looked at everyone. "He okay?"

"Uh…"

* * *

Firaga and Noldor were comparing each other's size. The two fully-fledged dragons seemed rather awed by one another.

"Noldor evolved…!" I gushed in awe. Then I glared at Barzini, who was sitting on his bed, bandaged up. He was apparently hit by Pin Missile from a Cacnea. Sort of pathetic, but still painful. "I'm forbidding you from holding a party, by the way."

"…Aw." Barzini mumbled, sulking. "Come on, he's a Salamence now!"

"You nearly _died _and all you can think about is a party…" I chided. I looked at Markus' Swellow, Swoosh, trying to get used to his new weight. His Turtwig, Twigs was circling Firaga obsessively.

"You'll get your chance, Twigs!" Markus tried to cheer his Turtwig up. Twigs lit up and nodded enthusiastically. "You'll be a great Grotle!"

Rex was, out of sheer fate, next to Barzini and in the same ward. He had his legs in a cast, and beside him was Volt, his new Manectric, looking condescendingly at all of us. He snarled at Firaga and Noldor. His Grovyle, Green was watching us nonchalantly as well. "Can you guys shut up for once?" he complained, shaking his head.

"You still owe me money for that Sitrus berry!" Barzini retorted back.

"Do _not_!"

"You two are such _children_!" I snapped at both of them. "Like Ash and Gary!"

Immediately, the two of them exchanged glances and pulled a face. Ash and Gary had so many yaoi stories to them about their rivalry, it was practically publicized on the newspapers when the show was still on. Silly. Now all we watch is Glee and American Idol. Sometimes, Pokémon Contests are on, or mass Pokémon knock-outs.

Firaga snorted but I smacked his belly, which I realized was a weak point. "You too! Just because you're taller than me doesn't mean you get to act this way! Childish Charizard…"

"Char." He tried to cross his arms, but he couldn't and I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever. Okay, have fun healing, Barzini. I'm gonna get some coffee. Gosh, I need some caffeine…" I walked out of the room, only to bump into Katie. "Oh, hey Katie!"

Katie grinned at me, then she looked behind me and blushed. "Um, can I talk to you, for a sec…?"

* * *

Firaga was showing off his wings to Katie's Forretress, Grenade, while Slinkie the Furret and Skittles were playing a game of who can catch your own tail first…if there _was _such a game. "So, whaddya wanna talk about?" I asked, as I blew at my coffee. In Singlish, it was 'kopi-o' but in English, it's black coffee; no milk.

Katie smiled at me. "I…um, I like Barzini."

I choked on my coffee and suppressed my laughter. Lord of The Rings nerd…? You have _got _to be kidding me. I mean, _Barzini_?

"Oh" was all I could muster. Honestly, it felt like I _was _Barzini; it was so awkward I could tell all four Pokémon were staring at me…or maybe three; Skittles doesn't have that sort of attention span for now.

"Yeah…so, um, do you think I should tell him?" Katie asked hesitantly. "Does he, um _like _like me?"

I thought about the hundreds of times Barzini would ramble on and on about Katie, and all I could say would be 'shut up' and 'poor girl'. "Yeah, definitely! You should tell him!" I said enthusiastically.

"R-Really? Thanks!" Katie blushed, and I smiled. "Oh, yeah, do you happen to have a crush on Benry?"

Firaga guffawed. "Uh, no."

"What about Aeleus?"

"…is this _going_ somewhere…?" I asked uncertainly as Firaga burst out laughing in his Charizard way.

"Uh, no! Absolutely not!" Katie abruptly stood up and smiled. "Okay, see you at school, okay?"

She then headed off to Barzini's room, as I tried not to think about whatever she asked.

* * *

**We're accepting OCs for Team Rocket now! HAHA. And students, too! Teachers are welcome.  
**

**Name**

**Occupation (student, aunt, teacher)**

**Age (16 if you're Charis' classmate, 15 if you're Barzini's classmate)  
**

**Pokemon plus their nicknames (two if you're a student)**

**Personality of self  
**

**Personality of Pokemon**

**Appearance (need not be very long, and sort of optional)**

**Interesting quirks**

**Legendary chosen (Celebi, Lugia, Arceus, Azelf, Rayquaza)**

**Okay, we need OCs for:**

**Team Rocket**

**Students (preferably related to any OC already mentioned, like Jayden's martial arts sidekick. Crushes still accepted!)  
**

**Teachers**

**Relatives**

**COME ON! REVIEW ALREADY! :D**

**Also, we may not be able to update very often. Barzini has what, 7 other subjects for O levels? And my school starts tomorrow! :D HAHA, I was so excited I printed out my lecture notes after my orientation camp. Okay, never mind me and my nerdiness. **

**REVIEW!  
**


	8. Attack: Barzini's POV

"Ride now! Ride for ruin! And the world's ending!"

I woke up with a start. I could have recognized that line anywhere. _Anywhere_.

"Death! Death! Death!"

I opened the door and peeked out of the small gap, to see that Katie Galante had took out my entire DVD collection. She had been watching them throughout the night, and she had apparently just reached Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

I hate to say this, but I can't fall back to sleep the moment I heard the famous speech that King Theoden of Lord of the Rings had made, and I got up and stepped out into the living room, which was freezing (Katie had turned on all of the air-con, so it was like the Russia Winter).

"Oh Hi, Barzini. Couldn't sleep?" Katie smiled as she saw me stumble out of my bedroom.

"Yeh... Couldn't sleep..." I lied. Actually I did sleep, but after hearing a part of the most epic charges in the film, how could I?

As the film progressed, Katie let slip a few "Woah" and "Wha?", so I explained various parts of the film and pointed out certain characteristics of characters, while she stared at the Battle of Minas Tirith unfolding in front of her.

And for the first time, I actually fell asleep on the sofa while watching Lord of the Rings.

* * *

The next day, I was rudely awakened by Katie who had to shake me violently for me to get up before storming into the bedroom to flip Markus off his bed, much to his displeasure.

"Wake up! Wake up!" Katie was shouting at Silvan and Noldor, which were at least rousing from their slumber faster than their trainers.

As I dragged my feet to the washing basin, Markus mumbled, "You know... I miss the days that we got up later..."

I yawned loudly and cleaned up, and helped Katie out by making the waffles. Then, after a relaxed breakfast, due to the fact that Katie woke us up three hours earlier than school time, we even had the time to play a console game, Mario. She was rather good at that game... Her high-score smashed Markus' and mine put together...

Today was the school bazaar, and oh boy... I should have known that trouble was coming.

* * *

Today at school, the Bazaar was going on. My booth had been set up to house a berry machine, where my fellow friends can purchase the berries and grind them on the spot, or walk away, Markus and I simply stood there drinking tea while we watched juniors we hired transact the money. Trustworthy juniors of course...

Then, when break time came, the principal was talking to this guy wearing a cape, and a briefcase was chained to his wrist. I whispered to Markus, "Looks like that fella. On TV wasn't he?"

"...maybe he got so unpopular that they're making him a mail boy." Markus whispered back as we grinned.

"Today is a _glorious_ page...in the history of Lanseal! We have the honour of having with us here today, Zak, the Pokémon Champion. He is tasked with a matter of great importance, and all students will deem it necessary to protect him." she ended with a smile. Goodness... Is she wearing stockings...?

This time, I whispered to Malik, who was watching this event with mild interest, "We were students. Now, we're bodyguards who don't get paid."

Katie was watching him intently much to my jealousy. I asked her, and she replied, "I like his cape."

Just then, Charis suddenly ran up to Zak and tried to peel Firaga and Skittles away from him. His Sceptile glared at the pathetic Charmeleon, who was clutching at Zak's cape, begging for a battle.

"Oh, we have a volunteer!" The principal boomed, and I rolled my eyes as Charis widened her eyes in horror. Zak, Charis and the principal walked over to the field.

Jayden, Elena, Aeleus and Benry, who were watching the whole scene unfold, shrugged as they took out their cookies and started to follow. A large group of students started to follow. I wasn't surprised; after rumour spread that a Charmeleon and Delcatty defeated Mr Juan's Pokémon, they immediately found their trainer and congratulated her.

When the school bazaar started up again, I went around to various booths to buy some stuff. There was a booth which was selling manuals on crafting Poké balls from apricorns, which I immediately bought, and a rather sharp blade from Lord of the Rings, a collector's item which I simply must have.

"Gosh, you're really obsessed with that sort of thing…" Jayden commented, as she walked over to Markus, Katie and I. She examined my purchases and rolled her eyes. "You're such a nerd."

"Am not. So how's the battle between Charis and Zak?" I asked, as I slowly put my Apricorns in place.

Jayden grinned. "Pretty awesome. Firaga is holding up really well against the famous Sceptile. Blader's probably the fastest Sceptile I've seen, and he got hit by a flamethrower or something!" She looked at the stands, quickly filling up with eager students and grabbed Katie's arm. "In fact, I was just about to ask you guys to come along. It's great! I saved you guys seats, we can-"

BOOM!

Suddenly, a Hyper Beam flew down onto the field, and from where I was, I saw Firaga being thrown towards Charis from the impact.

As we were still recovering from the shock, Jayden suddenly screamed, "Look out!"

I turned to see a jet of ice flying towards us, and a hyper beam which sent the bridge of the school tumbling down between us. I saw a mass of purple; must've been Aeleus; who dove in right before Charis got killed.

I always knew Charis had a slow reaction time…

I spotted Team Rocket; it was just like in the newspapers that Charis was shoving in my face the other day. It dawned on me then - everyone was in danger right now.

"Zak! Hand over the briefcase! We can spare the students!" the Principal shouted. He was a horrible bodyguard.

"No! Students! Fight! Fight!" and he turned around to look for support. Upon seeing us, he brightened up, but not us. We immediately turned around and thundered off towards the direction of the school gate.

We, Singaporeans, proudly admit one thing. First, we are _Kiasu_, which means afraid to lose, second, _Kiasi_, which is afraid to die.

Suddenly, Elena turned and ran upstairs.

"Elena, just _what _are you doing?" Jayden screamed.

Just then, Bombi and Pita, the Buizel and Breloom, leapt up and followed her. "Bombi! Pita! Get back here!" Daisy cried, as she raced up as well.

We all exchanged glances; Jayden, Kimberly, Markus, Katie, Cole and myself. "Um…do we go after them…?" Jayden asked uncertainly, as she turned to face me.

Kimberly glanced about, hoping to catch a sight of Elena and Daisy. She then thought for a moment before saying, "Barzini, can you blow up the stairs behind us?"

I nodded at Silvan and Noldor, who mustered a hyper beam and blew up the stairs behind. As I was about to blow up the other stairs leading down, Katie stopped me.

"What?" I asked irritably.

"We need a route to escape if they send flying Pokémon…" Katie whispered shakily, and suddenly, fear finally dawned upon us.

I looked at that stairs so far away. Would it kill us?

* * *

We took turns to guard the stairs, and our Pokémon were already shivering in fear. The sound of the battle could still be heard. I listened intently to the voices that were screaming, and a sudden chilling thought caught me off-guard - Charis wouldn't be one of them right?

Suddenly, two very loud idiots started walking up the stairs, and I heard this, "Kill all the little brats you find. Capture their Pokémon."

I whispered to Cole, who was nearest, "Get everyone to barricade themselves in the Music Room. I can buy you some time..."

Cole nodded and whispered, "Good luck." He gathered the remnants to head for the Music Room, to hide; a fight would kill us all.

I took a deep breath and stepped away from the wall and onto the top of the staircase, with Silvan and Noldor at my side, both Pokémon glaring at empty space.

The two idiots were Team Rocket grunts; weak trainers, but they had like, six Pokémon each…wait, is that a _Raticate_?

Noldor actually snorted.

I mustered my deepest sounding voice, and said, "Who dares to disturb our grounds. Fell humans alike."

The grunts looked up and laughed, it sent creeps up my spine but I stood my ground and maintained my composure.

"And who are you to deny us passage!" one sneered at me.

Suddenly, a typical scene in Lord of the Rings went through my mind... If only...

I raised my miniature Lord of the Rings sword I had with me, and the sunlight made it shine and reflect light into the eyes of the grunt. I said with my best impersonation of the film, "You cannot pass! I am the servant to the Secret Fire, wielder of the flames of Anor, the dark fire will not avail you! Go back to the shadows! You cannot pass!"

Just then, Silvan managed to use Meteor Shower as I reached the point where I was about to shout-

"You shall not pass!"

The meteors flew down at the two idiots, and they smashed through the roofs and started crashing at the feet of their targets, and the Rocket Grunts screamed a girly scream, and fled, and flew down the stairs.

Suddenly, I looked around and was about to praise Silvan when I noticed a round, shell like Pokémon that I had was missing.

Noldor the Shelgon.

"Oh...crap."

* * *

Roughly around this time, I suspected that my Shelgon had either ran to the music room, which should have been blocked up by now, or took off after the grunts without his stupid trainer knowing.

I sighed and cursed the day that I took this overly enthusiastic Pokémon (Charis told me to count my lucky stars; once, her Charmander Firaga tried to run after a robber…and failed) and slowly went down the stairs. Suddenly, instinct kicked in I grabbed Silvan and threw ourselves down, as a Hyper Beam flew in our direction. I caught a glimpse of a round Pokémon jumping aside as I dodged, death barely missing us both by inches-

I jumped up and ran to the Shelgon's side, who was fighting a rather nasty Dragonite. Silvan sighed in admiration.

A Team Rocket battalion leader was holding a rather large net and a syringe, waiting to pounce on a fainted Pokémon. He then pointed at Noldor and shouted, "Body Slam!"

Does he have a brain...?

Noldor yawned and opened its mouth lazily. A gush of fire came out of his mouth, and made contact with the belly of the Dragonite. The beast was thrown backwards and hit a tree of... Wait... was that a whole horde of Beedrill?

Then, before I opened my mouth to bark a word of command, Noldor suddenly erupted in a flash of light, and gradually widened, grew longer and bigger, wings sprouted from its back, and before me stood a brand new Salamance, a full fledged Dragon Pokémon.

Wait till that Charmeleon sees _this_!

At this time, I gave Noldor a pat on the back and nodded, and I wheeled around and saw Kimberly leading my dear friends, and Markus gave me a pat on my shoulder, "The Singaporean Army has arrived. We have been liberated."

I nodded and suddenly, I saw something green and black moving in the classroom, and suddenly, a barrage of pin missiles flew towards us, everyone dived down except Katie-

I dived forward and pushed her behind me. What was I thinking...

The pins landed on me, like what you hear in movies,_ fft,fft,fft._ I was still standing when it hit me, I raised a hand to touch the wounds on me, and held up the blood, mesmerized. Then, amid cries of "Barzini!", I fell backwards, my eyes moving in and out of focus, I suddenly felt breathing a burden, and my hearing... What were they saying...? Next, as I closed my eyes, I thought that stars were shining as the darkness closed in.

* * *

After what seemed like hours looking at the stars, my eyes were suddenly being forced open, a man was shining something in my eye, it hurt... Stop...

Then, I felt that I was carried up and placed on a softer cushion like object.

The stars were shining again.

* * *

"Barzini! YOU LAZY GRUMPIG! I KNOW YOU'RE THERE!"

"Geez, Charis, don't be so harsh!" Elena chided, but I could hear her delight in watching Charis scream.

"Chaaar…" Firaga mumbled, though it sounded a little…mature for a stupid Charmeleon.

The stars faded away, and I slowly opened my eyes, and saw the face of Charis, who was looking down at me anxiously. A handsome Charizard was standing behind her, trying to angle his head to dig his nose better. He blinked at me, huffed, then openly stuffed his booger underneath my bed.

Wait. What?

I sat up with a jolt and winced. It still hurt over a hundred places.

"What... Whose is this!" I pointed frantically at Charizard.

"Relax Barzini, she didn't even react so _violently _when she saw your Salamance." Lila said nonchalantly. She was reading a book and seemed to have somehow noticed my reaction without looking up. Her leg was bandaged up, but she looked fine.

"Man, you are lucky to be alive. It took 14 hours to save you." Malik was at the corner of the room, drinking coffee and holding his cup up at me.

"Anyway, you dropped this while collapsing." Kimberly handed me a berry, the berry that I had yet to grow.

"I saved these after the attack. You made twenty-six thousand dollars from the Bazaar yesterday; some corporation dude bought a whole lot and left. Well, here it is." Markus handed me a typical tincan, which I accepted gingerly.

Then, the door flew open and a Chansey walked in, pointing at my arm, and only now did I notice a blood transfusion in process. She switched the almost empty vial for a full one, and reprimanded Elena's Roselia, Bloom for dispensing perfume smell in this room. Aquabub, who was supposedly the Prinplup watching Firaga from afar, shook his head.

Suddenly, I felt tired and slowly laid myself down to the bed.

…Wait, where's Katie?

Charis seemed to read my mind for she opened her mouth and said, "She left the room after the first attempt to revive you. I'll get her."

Somehow, she shoved everyone out of the room, and closed the door behind her.

Seconds later, the door opened and Katie came in, and sat down beside me.

"Um, hey," she mumbled as she slipped into a seat.

I smiled. "Hiya."

"Sooo…you okay?" she asked, looking at me nervously. She was twiddling with her fingers, trying not to make eye contact with me.

I looked at myself. "I'm totally fine…" Katie shot me a glare as her eyes bore holes in my entirely bandaged body.

"Yeah, right!" Katie blurted out. "It was because you ran in front of me, right?"

"Look, Katie, it's okay! I mean, it was just…" I trailed off, unsure of what to say. "I just wanted to make sure you were…well, _not_ killed."

Katie looked as though she was going to burst into tears. With a swift, unexpected movement, she wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me briefly, careful not to brush against my wounds. She pulled away, blushed, and then as she stood up and hastily walked out, she whispered, "Thanks, Barzini."

No problem.

* * *

Usually, students would've been celebrating because school was cancelled, but for once, we actually all arrived on time to what was once the grand Lanseal Pokémon Academy, opened by the President himself. Charis was trying to steady herself on Firaga; surprisingly, he and Noldor mastered their new wings and were able to fly well. Skittles was on Firaga's back, looking at the ruins. Her ears drooped down.

The Charizard and Salamence were smaller than most normal Charizards and Salamences; they had just evolved, and they were still growing, after all.

Jayden and Benry were with us; they looked pretty glum as well. "Well…this is kinda bad," Jayden remarked, forcing an insincere smile. Seishin looked around, the Kirlia trudging along as she surveyed the place. Even Chikyu was pretty upset; despite the fact that the Ivysaur had just evolved, he was staring sullenly at the place.

Benry was walking alongside his Combusken and Mightyena. Romeo was looking around, trying to act cheerful, but Rascal was simply nudging and sniffing at the floor. "Gosh, this stinks."

Charis frowned. "Yeah…"

We watched as Benjamin and Xenny came over. Xenny's Quilava, Shaily, had evolved into a beautiful Typlosion. Her Pikachu, Sneaky, was on top of her head, staring at Shaily in admiration. Benjamin glanced at us, then immediately ran to me.

"YOU REALLY DID GET HIT BY A PIN MISSILE!" Benjamin squealed in excitement. He stroked my bandages gently, his hands shaking. His Gallade, Gally, rolled his eyes, and Chicky simply ran around excitedly in circles; if her trainer was happy, so was she! Never mind what he was happy about.

Then he looked over at Charis and Firaga. Firaga widened his eyes as Benjamin eagerly latched onto his tail and started to babble. Chicky leapt on Benjamin's butt and ran towards Firaga's head, where she started to jump about happily. "Gosh, Charis, Firaga's soooo cool!"

Charis rolled her eyes. "Firaga, you _can't _use Iron Tail…"

We all realised that Firaga was grinning, and his tail was glowing, with Benjamin still clutching onto it. He huffed, as if to say 'Damn…' Skittles snickered, as she found the remnants of a pack of chocolates, discarded from yesterday. She ate it slowly.

"Goshh, I didn't know it was _that _bad!" Elena Bloom cried out, as she tried to support her best friend, Emerala Stone.

Emerala and Elena were the very definition of 'best friends'. They did almost everything together, until one day when Emerala got injured. She came back on bazaar day, and the moment she entered school, the attacks struck and she was injured…again.

Behind the two girls were their Pokémon – a Prinplup, a Roselia, a Spoink and a Corsola.

Aquabub was warily standing behind, hoping that he would be of assistance should they both fall over. Coral was in front, the Corsola standing beside Emerala. She looked at Firaga, who was happily swishing his tail to see if Benjamin could let go, and glared at him. She swiftly used a powerful Bubblebeam at Firaga's tail, gesturing at Emerala, who was stumbling here and there.

"Come on, loosen up a little, Corals!" Elena chided playfully, as she almost dragged Emerala to a sort of stable-looking bench. Coral frowned, and scoffed at Firaga, who rolled his eyes. He lazily swept his tail around, tripping Coral. The Corsola rolled over Benjamin, who yelped in pain and finally let go of his tail.

Emerala's Spoink, Bouncy, bounced about, and soon, Chicky and Skittles had followed suit. Bloom was just moving about, the Roselia looking rather despondent as she glanced at what used to be the library.

"Well…at least the dormitory's still okay, right?" Xenny asked, smiling. She pointed to the building adjacent to the school. The walls were slightly charred, but it was still standing. The few of us slowly walked over to the gardens. Markus was already there, his Swellow Swoosh carrying a pot of water around, spilling them all over the berry plants. Twigs was playing with a Poochyena, Poochy.

"Poochy! Come here, boy!" Markus' step-sister, Amber cried out, petting Poochy affectionately. Twigs lit up, and queued up behind Poochy for a hug as well.

Charis casually approached Amber, and gave her a smile. "Heya, you must be-"

All of a sudden, a menacing Scyther leapt up and lunged at Charis, only to be wrestled down by Firaga. The two Pokémon struggled against each other fiercely, until Skittles rolled her eyes and used Iron Tail on the Scyther's head while he was pinned down by Firaga, knocking him out.

"Gladiator!" Amber ran towards the Scyther, ignoring Firaga flapping his wings, demanding some form of apology. Skittles watched Gladiator rise up and rub his head, shooting a death glare at the Delcatty. She stood up finally, and Charis widened her eyes at her height; despite the fact that Charis was older, Amber Smith was a head taller.

"I'm 16 this year, and I'm shorter than a 14 year-old. This is fantastic, real pleasant indeed!" she lamented sarcastically.

Amber grinned. "Sorry bout that. Gladiator can be a bit…" she looked at Scyther, who was trying to kill Skittles. She looked like she was enjoying herself; skipping about and jumping over Gladiator.

"Aggressive?" Charis suggested.

"Nice?" Emerala suggested sarcastically, narrowly avoiding the eager Delcatty. She was on crutches and she nearly fell over again.

Rascal had gone up to the younger Poochy, trying to teach him how to walk with his head up high…until he tripped over a root in the plot of land and fell forward, much to everyone's amusement.

"Oh yeah, Charis," Benry finally spoke, when he caught up to Rascal, "where's Aeleus?" Romeo smirked, and nodded his head.

Charis frowned. "He had something up at home. He said he'd join us later for our get-well-soon dinner!"

Everyone exchanged confused looks. "You didn't tell me!" I retorted.

"Well…I just thought of it today."

* * *

Finally, we took a short rest in my dormitory.

On the television, the BPC, was announcing about China's new equipment for their Dragonite armies, which is meant to devastate the American pacific fleet in Japan. Then, a helicopter hovers over Lanseal, paratroopers landing in the school compound... A Hyper Beam missing a Shelgon... Wait, is that? Never mind…

"OI! Firaga! Hands off my fries! I AM WARNING YOU!" I roared at Firaga whose hand froze in mid-air, while I was frying the Magikarp meat for my fish and chips. The girls and Cole were crowding around Charis' laptop, watching reruns of Pink Lipstick, a horrible Korean Drama, where housewives take revenge at each other.

Benry was watching over all the Pokémon, while waiting for Aeleus to come in. Benjamin and Xenny were snuggled up together on the couch. Firaga snorted at me; he was slightly taller than me now, and he flapped his wings, knocking a few things down and laughing triumphantly as he went outside to fly around with Noldor. Silvan was curled up in his bed, sleeping.

Malik suddenly burst into the room, his face soaked. "CHARIS! Your childhood lover's BACK!" he screamed in horror. "AND HE HAS A BLASTOISE NOW!"

Charis looked up from her computer wearily. "I know, I know, he lives next door now…" she mumbled, and then suddenly, her head snapped up. "HE'S NOT MY LOVER!"

"That doesn't explain why you stalked him…" I mumbled under my breath.

"I HEARD THAT, BARZINI!" she roared in response.

"She has a lover already?" Aeleus suddenly piped in, as he strolled into the kitchen and casually took my whole plate of fries. Swirls and Minerva followed him, looking pretty cross with themselves. "Aw, and I thought she could come over for some information she may need on the project…guess that'll have to wait. I'll send in an application to have her for that day…what's his name, Barzini?"

"Skittles, you may glomp Aeleus' hair now."

The Delcatty appeared from under the sink and launched at Aeleus' hair, probing his purple hair with her paws. "Okay, okay! I was joking!" he cried out, trying to pry Skittles away from him.

Markus nudged his knight forward, and took Malik's Bishop, and muttered, "Checkmate..." Malik's face was screwed in concentration.

I finally finished the final Magikarp meat and called out, "Dinner!"

As I laid down the dishes and tartar sauce onto the table, the trainer's Pokémon were settled in a separate room where they could converse with each other, partially due to the fact that I have yet to call in people to increase the height of the ceiling due to Salamence's height.

I made sure that the Pokémon were feasting in the room before returning to the dinner table.

"So, how is the magikarp?"

"Not bad! Really! You're not a bad cook, Barzini!"

Suddenly, as I walked past the calendar, a sudden jolt came into my brain, and as I sat down, "It's your birthday next week?" looking at Charis.

She nodded, and everyone paused for a moment before we all started to eat.

* * *

**I created Facebook o.o **

**And we're still open to OCs! **

**Name**

**Gender  
**

**Age**

**Role  
**

**Pokemon (Gender and nicknames; no repeat Pokemon e.g you can't have a Charizard, 2 if you're a student)**

**Personality**

**Relation to any character (and I mean ANY)**

**Interesting Quirks  
**

**You can have a job too, if you're an adult. Like...a teacher. The cleaner. Team Rocket. A Pokemon Champion. A prodigy, WHATEVER. Really! And you can be related to any character here! **

**I also mentioned Charis' so-called 'childhood lover', but I need a name for him, because the person who contributed the OC came up with the name Alan which, to me, is really lame. Sooooo you can submit a random name as long as it's cool and it starts with the letter A!**

**And for those who submitted the previous time, no worries! I'll fit you guys in soon enough! :D**

**PLUS! Evolutions that have taken place:**

**Charis - Firaga evolved into a Charizard**

**Barzini - Noldor evolved into a Salamence  
**

**Jayden - Chikyu evolved into an Ivysaur**

**Elena - Aquabub evolved into a Prinplup**

**Kiara - Spike evolved into a Nidorino**

**Cole - Blaze evolved into a Monferno**

**Markus - Swoosh evolved into a Swellow**

**Benry - Rascal evolved into a Mightyena**

**Rex - Volt evolved into a Manectric**

**Kishon - Gairbith evolved into a Gabite**

**Xenny - Shaily evolved into a Typlosion**

**Katie - Grenade evolved into a Forretress**

**Hm, I think that's all. I'll try to mention all of them; I have to keep track!  
**


	9. Aftermath: Charis' POV

**To be perfectly honest, my birthday is in December, and I'm not very keen on writing about my birthday in February.**

* * *

Why do the weirdest things happen to me?

First I find that my childhood stalker broke into my house, stole back that pencil I took from him last time (maybe two years ago), and then flew back to…I'm not too sure where. And then I see that Skittles started eating vegetables, something which I consider as amazing as Team Rocket giving to charity. After that, a Politoed broke into my house on the last day of Chinese New Year.

"It's good luck!" my mum cried out as she patted the friendly Politoed. I had no idea how he ended up in my home, but according to my grandma, he jumped in from a tree, which is completely impossible, because the tree in question had been burnt down by Firaga one day.

I googled 'symbolic meaning of Politoed entering house' and got something like 'The Chinese believe that Politoeds promote creativity, fertility…'

…_Fertility_?

I swiftly shut down my computer. "He's such a pretty Politoed!" my mum cooed, as her Medicham started to lecture the Politoed on house rules. The wild Pokémon nodded his head, looking around in awe at my house.

"Okay, I get it, he's a nice Politoed…" I mumbled as I patted his head and picked up my bag. "But I have to go to school. BYE!"

I taught Firaga Fly using Aeleus' Hidden Machine (which was just a more expensive Technical Machine; the sort that made your computer go haywire) and I managed to grab Firaga's License to Fly. All I had to do was to send Firaga for a flying test. He not only aced the test, but also got his first demerit point by smashing into a snobbish Skarmory afterwards.

I also had to endure a test whereby they attempt to induce vomiting by showing me how bumpy it was to fly on Firaga. It was basically like a rollercoaster, but with rocks underneath them, but I aced that part, too. I didn't eat lunch before that, so all went well.

"Firaga, let's go!" I nudged the Charizard, Skittles trotting along behind me. I crawled on top of him and grabbed onto his long neck, while the Delcatty took her favourite spot at the edge of his tail. Firaga simply stretched a little, stood up, then flapped his wings and flew off.

The thing about flying with Firaga is this – Firaga enjoys experimenting with his new wings. He would try to close one wing in mid-air (not a very good idea), or close his eyes (a horrible idea especially if there's a Ranger on an Altaria on duty in the skies), or do so many somersaults, you're not very sure if you've fallen, died, or survived. Trust me; it's not a very nice feeling.

The Charizard swooped up in the air as I clung on tightly to his neck. I had finally mastered the technique of making Firaga fly smoothly – by strangling him lightly, or tickling him.

His tail had to be straight, so Skittles could easily crawl back to Firaga's back any time she wanted, while I juggled my feelings of wanting to throw up and my feelings of wanting to just ride a normal bicycle to school.

I don't know how people do it in movies, where they paint a Charizard to resemble a Lugia, sit on their necks, and _not _hold onto them when they're in mid air.

"Firaga!" I shouted angrily, swatting at a group of lazy Wingulls. In response, one lazily blasted me with Water Gun. "SLOW DO- DON'T HIT THAT CHARIZARD!"

Too late. The stupid Charizard slammed right into the larger Charizard and the trainer on top of him whipped around in anger. Instantly, a cold chill ran up my spine. She looked like the sort of girl who would seduce any person, trap him in an alley, rape him, humiliate him, and then murder him, before running away in absolute coolness.

Oh, but she did seemed pissed.

"Hey, watch it!" she barked angrily.

I didn't even reply. I was just staring at her Charizard. He was a head taller than Firaga, with markings across his whole body; scars that ran deep and proved that he was a tough Pokémon. He was slightly larger too; like a fully grown Charizard.

Firaga snorted and glared at his larger counterpart. "Um, HEY! Are you going to apologize?" she snapped angrily at Firaga and I.

Skittles crawled up to me and rested on Firaga's other unoccupied shoulder. "Um, sorry! I was just…" I gulped when her blue eyes narrowed into evil-looking daggers with sapphires to make the killing brutal, yet beautiful at the same time, yet completely psychotic…I had to stop reading Steig Larsson. "…your Charizard is…woah…"

"Wait…you're from Lanseal, right?" she asked, examining Skittles and Firaga.

"Uh…yeah…" I hesitated. "Um, you're from Lanseal too?"

The girl fiddled with the striking purple lock of hair she had cascading down her head. "No, not at all," she replied, narrowing her eyes at me, "but you…you were the girl who was battling the Pokémon Champion, correct?"

Shit. Was she in any way, affliated to a stalker organization dedicated to make people's lives miserable? "Yeah, that's me, alright…" I said, as I tried to pull Firaga away from glaring at the evil-looking Charizard. The Charizard had blazing red eyes that reminded me of blood, and it was freaking me out. I read Steig Larsson's novel, 'The Girl with The Rayquaza Tattoo', and boy, was I getting ideas from there. I could imagine it now. Girl killed in mid-air due to staring contest with girl with scary Charizard. Perpetrator had random chopper in bag. Victim died of too much gore in head. Foul play and murder ruled out. Oh gosh…

Instead of whipping out a chopper, the girl cocked her head and flashed me a smile, though it seemed rather stiff, and still rather evil. "Cool. I'm Sabrina Monez. This…" she smacked her Charizard's head so hard, Firaga grunted for him, "…is Rage, my Charizard. I have a Houndoom, too. His name is Shade."

"Um…I'm Charis. My Charizard, Firaga, and my Delcatty, Skittles," I introduced, Firaga rubbed his nose and Skittles purred. I watched as Sabrina released her Houndoom, Shade. He growled at Skittles, and the Delcatty…

"SKITTLES!" I screamed in horror as my Delcatty leapt off from Firaga's head as a launch pad, landed squarely on Rage's snout (he looked like he could eat ten Delcatties, a Charizard and a poor human girl ALL AT ONCE!), ran down Rage's back, ran past Sabrina without even glancing, and then nuzzled Shade. I looked at Sabrina, who was staring at Skittles in shock. "Uh…"

To my surprise, the Houndoom simply let the Delcatty snuggle up to him. "Oh, I'm so sor-"

"Shade. Stop that." Sabrina's voice turned icy cold. She looked at her Houndoom in contempt. The Houndoom looked at the confused Delcatty for a moment, gave a look of resignation, and…

"Oof!" I was met with Delcatty fur as the Houndoom swiftly threw Skittles, _in mid-air_, to me. "HEY! You're not supposed to- oh shit, she's gone."

Firaga groaned and flapped his wings impatiently. "Fine, fine, we have school, so go ahead and fly us already…" I said to him, as we slowly made our descent to Lanseal Pokémon Academy.

And I thought I heard a Houndoom's pained cry.

* * *

We had a battle lesson today, much to Firaga's delight. So there we were, Firaga dealing a painful Seismic Toss to Xenny's Typlosion when the new teacher walked in.

"Hello, class," she greeted, her dark blue eyes glancing across the battle hall, "I'm Jennifer MacIntosh. I'll be your new battle teacher for the rest of the semester, and please don't underestimate me."

A few boys at the back, including Benry, started to control their laughter. I took a good look at Ms MacIntosh. She was in an all-pink ensemble, save for her white skirt. It was hard not to classify her as 'the stupid pink woman'. And when she sent out her Pokémon – Weather the Castform, Sable the Sableye, Kolor the Kecleon, Patch the Pachirisu, and Jane the Mawile…

"…Seriously?" Kishon walked up to us, with his Gabite, Gairbith. Cerine, his Ralts, was beside him, giving Ms MacIntosh's Pokémon a shy wave. "You're a battle teacher?"

Ms MacIntosh didn't flinch. Instead, she smiled. "Try me."

Benry hopped off the stands and joined Kishon. "Hell yeah!" He turned to me. "If I win, will you go out with me?"

Xenny choked and Benjamin burst out laughing.

"Ah, Charis. I have heard marvelous things about you!" Ms MacIntosh gave me a smile. "Would you like to team up with me?"

I didn't even need a damn reply when Firaga roared in excitement, and took his place next to the small Castform, floating about happily. "If you lose, you buy the whole class ice cream, Benry!" I shouted out, and the class cheered in response.

Benry turned to Kishon as his Combusken, Romeo, took his place next to Kishon's Gabite. "You're in this with me…!"

"…_Shit_."

Benjamin clapped his hands. "C'mon guys, battle START!"

"Weather, Sunny Day!"

"Firaga, fly up!"

Firaga flapped his wings and flew up, as Weather did a strange dance in front of us. When he finished with a battle cry, the sun overhead beamed even more, engulfing the class in sunlight.

Kishon narrowed his eyes at the sun. "Gairbith, use Stone Edge on Charizard."

Gairbith summoned a bunch of sharp rocks from the field, before he launched himself up with his strong legs and streamlined shape. He practically flew past Firaga, the rocks pointed threateningly around him, before he did a nosedive towards Firaga's belly. The two Pokémon plummeted towards the ground at a blistering speed. "Firaga, flip him over with a Seismis Toss!"

At the final moment, Firaga twisted himself and was able to pin Gairbith down with his claws. He flapped his wings and crashed onto the ground, the Charizard cushioning himself by generating some wind from his wings. Gairbith crawled out of the crater, shaking a little by the damage taken.

"Romeo, use Rock Slide on Charizard!"

The Combusken started to gather large rocks, hurling them at lightning speeds to Firaga. "Firaga, fly up and use Aerial Ace on Combusken!"

"Weather, use Blizzard on Gabite!"

While both Pokémon were attacking Firaga, they failed to notice or care about the little Castform making his own hailstorm in his little personal bubble. Without skipping a beat Weather delivered a hard-hitting Blizzard that destroyed Gairbith and froze him in place. Kishon grimaced as Gairbith staggered to the sidelines, unable to battle.

Firaga flew around Romeo, confusing the Combusken greatly. Then, without warning, Firaga stopped and slashed at Combusken for a deadly Aerial Ace. Romeo was thrown back, slamming straight into Benry. In response, Rascal, who was next to Benry, barked and nuzzled Benry eagerly.

"Well, that was kinda boring!" Ms MacIntosh announced, yawning a little. "Okay, class, get into groups of 5 and mass Pokémon Knock-Outs, now!"

* * *

"Uh, one mango ice cream!" I told Kishon, as he grudgingly handed over two dollars. Benry was talking to both Elena Bloom and Emerala Stone.

"Okay, Emerala, this is Benry!" she introduced her.

I met Emerala just a while ago. According to Elena, Emerala had been admitted to the hospital and stayed there since the school year started. She came back on the worst day ever to come back – the day Team Rocket attacked Lanseal. So she got injured again, and now she was in crutches,

Emerala shoved up her sunglasses and looked at her two Pokémon, a Spoink and a Corsola. Despite the fact that we just met them, Firaga had already decided that they were no longer friends of his. Her Spoink, Bouncy, was jumping on his tail and pretending that the flame at the end of his tail was a campfire, so it didn't really help when her Corsola, Coral, brought in marshmallows to cook. Firaga lifted up his tail and nearly slammed it on the two Pokémon until Coral blasted a Water Gun at his exposed butt out of frustration over not having marshmellows.

Aside from that, Skittles loved them. I think it was the pearl on Bouncy's head, and the fact that the Spoink had been bouncing non-stop.

"One coffee ice cream topped with mango bits and with strawberry sauce, please!" Aeleus ordered, laughing as Kishon smacked his forehead in annoyance. His friend, Kai Zade was next to him, trying to conjure up a crazy mix of ice creams.

"I want an aloe vera ice cream, topped with sarcasm and sprinkled with some humour please!" Kai added, grinning.

"Oh, would you like it in your face for that?" Kishon asked sarcastically.

"Nah, I wouldn't pay extra for that, Kai…" Aeleus remarked, as he glanced at me and smiled. "Did you order your ice cream?"

"Yepp…" I said as I waited in line for my ice cream. I looked around the canteen. The debris from Friday's destruction had been cleared, but it was fairly obvious to any outsider that we had been through an attack. The canteen wall had been destroyed, and the field still had that huge crater from a Hyper Beam. There were signs of fierce Pokémon battles everywhere; it seemed as though students battled against Team Rocket grunts bravely. According to newspaper reports, Team Rocket were after some documents that Pokémon Champion Zak were after. Most of them had been stolen successfully, but a group of students managed to retrieve part of it. The last time we visited this place, it was in a mess, but thankfully they managed to restore it.

"Well, at least the canteen sells better food now!" Elena commented, grinning. "The whole Team Rocket fiasco wasn't so bad after all!" Aquabub and Bloom nodded eagerly. The Prinplup had sea salt ice cream **(A/N: KH REFERENCE HEHE) **while Bloom the Roselia was having green tea ice cream.

At the mention of Team Rocket, Aeleus' eyes narrowed. His Mawile, Minerva and Swirls the Poliwhirl glowered well. "Um…Aeleus? You okay?" I asked.

He snapped up and forced a smile. "Uh, yeah! Yeah. Oh right, I forgot. You're coming to my house today, right?"

I promised Aeleus I'd teach him Math at his place. He was apparently so bad at Math, his teacher didn't even marked his paper.

"Yeah, after school today," I nodded my head in agreement. Firaga smirked at me knowingly.

My mum used to tell me that should I ever have a boyfriend, he would have to go through two tests – my parents, and Firaga. When I had a guy friend at the age of 8, the Charmander torched him when he threw an eraser in my face. The boy was so traumatized by the event, he moved away. Sometimes my mum would go up to Firaga and ask him "How was her day at school, dear?" and he'd know right away what she meant.

_Scaaaary_.

I took my ice cream and sat down to read my newspapers. A trainer and his Pokémon; a Lairon and a Magnezone had gone missing, supposedly after being taken down by a wild Pokémon. I sighed; this usually meant they would die soon enough. If environmental conditions weren't good enough, and if they provoked any wild Pokémon, then that would be the usual outcome. Aside from that, Lady Gaga went into the Grammy Awards in a Togepi Egg.

In home news, there were a few pages dedicated to the Lanseal attack. One was filled with photographs of the scenes of destruction, and then they compared them to photographs of Lanseal during the grand opening. It was a rather drastic change.

There was another page to inform the public of what exactly unfolded that day, and they gave eyewitness accounts. Jayden had apparently been stalked by their reporter that day after she was spotted limping about with her Pokémon for a comment. The Principal and Zak declined to comment, though Zak's agent had mentioned that he would return to Lanseal to oversee smooth restoration of school facilities.

As I was reading this, there was some form of commotion occurring behind me, then a strong hand practically hit my shoulder. I whipped around, only to see Zak himself. "Uh…good morning?" I suggested, giving a nervous smile.

He didn't say anything; all he did was to release his Sceptile Blader from his Pokéball. At the sight of his opponent, Firaga snarled at the Pokémon. Blader looked impressed by Firaga's new form, and he released his sharp leaf blades from his arms in the hopes of intimidating the Charizard.

Everyone cooed in awe. I didn't even need to say anything because when Zak started walking, Firaga flew ahead and Skittles sprinted off without me. Then the stupid Charizard realized that his trainer was still reading her newspapers, so he burnt it with his tail flame, grabbed me by my shoulders and flew off with me screaming mid-air, and the entire school following in wide-eyed anticipation.

* * *

It happened so fast no referee was needed to start the battle. Firaga immediately flew up for an aerial Flamethrower before I could even tell him to use Flamethrower.

"Blader, jump and use Leaf Blade to send him back down!" Zak shouted. Blader used a large rock as a platform and leapt into the air, blades poised for a lethal attack.

"Firaga, pin his arms down!" I commanded, and the Charizard gave a mighty roar in response. He flew up even higher, above the Sceptile, before diving headfirst towards the Sceptile. Blader shielded himself with his sharp blades, hitting Firaga a little, but the Charizard was swift enough to grab his arms. He did a spinning nose dive and drove him straight to the ground.

Show-off.

Skittles flicked her tail lazily as she watched the battle, eating at my ice cream. "HEY!" I snapped, before I continued to eat it myself. "Firaga, fly up and use Fire Blast!"

"Blader, Detect!"

_Gahhhh_. With his keen eye, Blader nimbly dodged Firaga's Fire Blast. "Now use Leaf Blade at his wings!"

Blader lunged for Firaga's wing. "Counter it with Focus Punch!" I retaliated. Firaga flew towards Blader, the powerful Leaf Blade and Firaga's Focus Punch connecting. The two Pokémon recoiled at the collision, but Firaga was able to stand first, since Leaf Blade didn't hurt him very much. "Flamethrower!" I shouted, but Firaga didn't even want to Flamethrower the Sceptile – He used Blast Burn.

Suddenly, the ground shook violently. Blader was surrounded by small, yet dangerous explosions that erupted from the ground with no warning signals. He swiftly dodged one that nearly attacked him, but he failed to see the deadly explosion that erupted right below him. The flames burst out of the ground, engulfing the helpless Grass Pokémon in it. As he staggered away, more eruptions followed, chipping away chunks of his health, and finally, the deadliest one exploded from the ground, finally subduing its prey.

…When in the world did he _learn _that?

Blader fell to the ground, heavily burnt everywhere. Firaga was huffing, still standing proud, though he did stumble a little. Silence fell onto the crowds, before suddenly…

"LANSEAL FOR THE WIN!" Barzini screamed in awe, and soon, the students and teachers started to cheer as well, so loudly I nearly died from a damn headache.

The nurses' Chanseys were at the sidelines watching as well, so they ran up to both Blader and Firaga to heal them with their…um, eggs. Firaga was met with swarms of Pokémon, all trying to lift him up to cheer. Students suddenly ran down the sidelines, cheering and…wait, are they heading towards me…?

_Shit_.

* * *

"That was a great battle, Charis!" Aeleus insisted, as we walked into his house. I smiled as I was greeted by the fresh smell of cookies in the air.

"Oh, hello, Charis!" Mrs Rivera greeted as I walked in, taking off my shoes as I went in. "I've heard so much about you from Aeleus!"

I cast a suspicious glance at Aeleus, who shrugged nonchalantly. "Uh, thanks."

"Here, have some cookies!" She nearly shoved the tray in my direction. "And Aeleus-"

Suddenly, a boy about a head taller than Aeleus walked into the kitchen. He had spiky purple hair, similar to Aeleus' hair, and he was wearing a black jacket, over a black shirt, with black jeans. If it wasn't for his purple hair and the lack of piercings I would've categorized him as a hardcore goth. "I'm here," he greeted coldly, and when his eyes met mine, it felt as though the whole world froze over and died.

"Reggie, where in the world were you on Friday?" Aeleus asked, a bit too casually for my liking. He shot Reggie a glare.

"Well, little brother, I was doing stuff that no 16-year-old should know about, so mind your own business." Reggie grabbed a cookie from the tray, still glaring at the both of us.

"Um…should we start on Math, Aeleus?" I hastily cut in, before Reggie's glare could kill my soul. Staring at people like that should've been illegal.

Aeleus sighed and nodded. "Okay, we'll just sit by the dining table…" He pulled out his Math books.

Lanseal Pokémon Academy prints out lecture notes for every term, but since we were nearing O levels, they combined Term 3 and 4's lecture notes together into one book. It was rather thick, and it was filled with doodles. I flipped through my book lazily. In lectures I paid attention, and I doodled only when I was bored…which was nearly once in five seconds or so.

"Okay, we should start with…um…" I trailed off when I saw what was underneath Reggie's jacket – a bright yellow R.

Aeleus noticed it as well, but he tried to act normally. "I personally hate differentiation," he commented, eyeing his brother, "but I'm not that good at integration as well…"

Reggie left the kitchen. He walked towards the living room, well out of hearing range. "Did you see that?" I hissed, widening my eyes.

Aeleus nodded gravely. "Yeah, I did…but it could be anything!" he pointed out.

Firaga, Skittles, Minerva and Swirls all nodded in agreement. "Hm…" I thought about it. "Maybe we can get more information from his room…where is it?"

"You have to walk past the living room, and go upstairs, but he'd get suspicious because I don't normally go upstairs…" he said.

I lit up. "I have an idea!"

* * *

Firaga and I waited outside for Aeleus' cue. He was to distract Reggie while Firaga flew me up to the second floor.

"Hey, Reggie!" Aeleus walked into the living room, where Reggie's Pokémon were. He had a Mawile, a Politoed, a Gengar and a Skarmory, all seated in a row watching the television.

Minerva and Swirls walked behind him, narrowing their eyes at the four Pokémon seated. His Skarmory hissed in response, while the others simply ignored Aeleus' Pokémon.

Firaga shot them a glare from outside but I smacked him angrily. "Focus!" I snapped, as he grunted. He let me sit near his head, growling, and then he flapped his wings up. He sat on top of the roof, and tried to steady himself on the chimney. He used his legs to push himself up, but he accidentally dislodged a tile from the roof. To my horror, the tile crashed onto the ground in the noisiest way possible.

"What's that?" Reggie barked; I could hear his icy voice. His Gengar tried to float out, and I panicked, hurriedly trying to scramble away from Firaga's head, but thankfully his Gengar was blasted with a Water Pulse from Swirls.

"Swirls! Don't be rough!" Aeleus snapped, though I could sense some sarcasm and his fake tone.

"Get your damn butt out of here, will you? Don't you have your girlfriend to attend to?"

Firaga nearly clawed his way down to strangle Reggie, but thankfully I was near his head, so I hit him.

"Okay, hoist me down!" I sat behind Firaga's horns, grabbing them tightly as he lowered his head such that it was level with Reggie's room window. I hastily used the disfigured paper clip that Aeleus provided and opened the window. I quickly jumped in, then signaled for Firaga to enter as well. He was, thankfully, small enough to crawl through the window without much difficulty. I grabbed Firaga's tail flame to navigate my way.

"Well, so this is a dude's room…" I whispered, kicking aside his clothes. I looked at the room. Aside from being horribly messy, it seemed rather normal; the posters, the picture frame, the huge closet…

I flung open the closet, and stared at it. Rows and rows of the trademark Team Rocket uniform, along with some notes that I shoved into my pocket hurriedly. Then I saw his Team Rocket admin card, and took that as well; perhaps we could use it against him one day.

"SHE'S TENDING TO HER CHARIZARD, DON'T DISTURB HER!" Aeleus shouted, a bit too loudly, and I started to panic. "Firaga!" I snapped, tugging at his tail. "Hurry!"

We ran out of the room, and then I saw the stairs, where Aeleus was standing at. "Damn, how do we get down?"

Firaga glanced at me and gave me a cheeky grin. He lumbered up to the stairs, and then proceeded to throw himself onto the stairs, rolling down and grunting in mock pain. I gulped when Aeleus and Reggie both stared at the random Charizard who just tumbled down the stairs, and then I jumped in. I ran down the stairs, trying to look as wild as possible. "FIRAGA!" I screamed, in mock horror. I threw myself over Firaga, and Skittles joined in the act by nuzzling him frantically.

"Uh…" Aeleus was speechless. Reggie was raising an eyebrow; too absorbed in wondering how a Charizard could fall like that to think about why we were upstairs in the fir-

"Why were you both upstairs?" Reggie demanded. Firaga and I exchanged glances, and then I simply sniffed.

"M-My Firaga…he was just being playful…" I whispered, petting Firaga's head soothingly. Firaga whimpered to add on to the act.

Aeleus shook his head. "He found the attic, huh?" he asked, and gave him a subtle wink. I nodded furiously in response.

"Oh, my poor poor Firaga!" I moaned, again hugging him. "Don't you find it painful? Even Skittles is worried!"

"Meow!" Skittles chirped in agreement.

I searched Reggie's face for some form of sign that the story was working. Even his Gengar looked skeptical, but in the end, Reggie simply rolled his eyes.

"You immature children…" he mumbled as he sat back in the couch. "Don't you guys have work to do?"

* * *

I went back home after that, because Aeleus was exhausted from…staring at one differentiation question.

The Politoed was still there, jumping about. He was rather small for a Politoed; if I were to compare him with Reggie's stronger Politoed, our wild Politoed would be no match!

"I'm keeping the Politoed!" my mum announced.

"Um…okay…" I mumbled as I shuffled into my room. I had to move my bed to a corner to accommodate both Firaga and Skittles, plus my window had to be easily opened for Firaga to go out and stretch. The last time Firaga stretched in my room, the ceiling gave way and I had to vacuum my entire room.

"Okay, let's see what Reggie's notes are about…" I said, as I sat down next to Firaga and Skittles. I pulled out the crumpled pieces from my pocket and started to read through them.

_Targets: ALL LEGENDARIES._

_Capture all. Arceus shall be our final target._

I widened my eyes as I read through the notes. Moltres, Articuno, Zapdos…Lugia and Ho-Oh…

They detailed their plans to capture each legendary. Team Rocket grunts would first target the small Pokémon – Celebi, Jirachi, Shaymin, Mew. They would start small, building up a whole army of legendaries; the more they obtain, the easier it would be to capture more.

Lugia was to be risen from the sea. They would send in an admin for each legendary Pokémon. And once Lugia was captured, Kyogre would follow. They planned to use Lugia against his fellow legendary.

Groundon was supposedly deep in the Gobi desert, locked in a sand tomb that would only open with a powerful trainer. They had done their research and coaxed several candidates to join them in their so-called expedition. They even had a newspaper clipping of a Pokémon Champion joining their expedition, hidden under the guise of scientific research.

There were so many legendaries and so many plans, it was too crazy, yet so possible. They had finished their preparations; all that was left was for their boss to give the go-ahead.

_Eliminate those who try to intervene._

…Eliminate? Was that why nearly all the teachers were going? Was that why our expedition was shifted to the holidays to accommodate the teachers?

I flipped through the pages again. There had to be a da-

Our trip coincided with Team Rocket's plans.

Oh gosh, this is not good. NOT GOOD! "Firaga, this is _baaaad_!" I yelped, smacking Firaga in horror.

"Rooooooar…" Firaga groaned in anger, poking my stomach with his talon.

"NOT FUNNY!" I snapped, before I burst out laughing. "Stop poking me! Gosh, okay, it's time to sleep!"

Firaga snickered, as he folded his wings neatly. Skittles crawled underneath his wing, and I plopped onto bed to enjoy a restless night thinking of Team Rocket.

* * *

"Mr Glenn, here's my history report!" I said, as I handed up my report. The rest of the class rolled their eyes silently. Well, I didn't check my email inbox for his email that the deadline had been extended…

"Oh, that's nice. Thank you very much," he replied, as he placed my file on top of his books. He then looked at the class, "and class, I expect more reports by this Wednesday…"

I slid into my seat as the class echoed, "Yes Mr Glenn…"

"Good. And Charis, can I see you for a moment after class?"

I heard Firaga snort. Oh shit. I was never called back to meet a teacher after class! Did I fail my History so miserably that I have to retake my paper? I thought Mr Glenn was pleased with my report last week…

The class filtered out, with Kishon laughing. "HAHA! Miss Goody Two Shoes called back?"

Mr Glenn looked up. "Oh, Kishon! Yes, I forgot, I have to see you too!"

Kishon's face fell as he mumbled something underneath his breath. He stood beside my table, furrowing his eyebrows.

When the class finally left, Mr Glenn smiled at me. "It's okay, Charis, you're not being punished!" he laughed.

Oh. Was it _that _obvious?

Kishon snickered. "So…what's this about?" He sat on the table next to me.

Mr Glenn smiled. "Well, we have an exclusive legendary only available to top students who perform well academically and CCA-wise." CCA, or co-curricular activity is just something we do aside from schoolwork.

It was therefore natural that they first approach the chairperson of AV Media Club (that was me), and the male lead of choir (Kishon, strangely).

"And…what is the legendary in question?" I asked.

"Well…it's Team Rocket's most infamous experiment to date – Mewtwo."

* * *

**I'm still accepting OCs!**

**Name**

**Age (Barzini is 15, Charis is 16 if you're a student)**

**Gender**

**Role (Teacher, Student, Team Rocket grunt, anything will do!)**

**Pokémon (2 if you're a student), Gender, Nicknames**

**Personality of character**

**Personality of Pokémon**

**Appearance**

**Relation to ANY character!**

**Legendary chosen – Arceus, Celebi, Lugia, Azelf, Rayquaza**

**Mewtwo only if you're really smart**

**The stalker mentioned in the previous chapter shall never be mentioned again, due to unforeseen circumstances. I actually started writing this chapter a few weeks ago but I had to delete it because I felt that I didn't characterize the stalker very well, so I started this particular one a few days ago! Oh, actually, I started on Saturday when I was tutoring Barzini for Amath at my place.**

**I would also like to inform all readers that effective from mid March, Barzini will NOT be writing anymore, until his O levels are over. If you read my stories often, you would have noticed that last year, I stopped writing from January all the way to December or something. This was to make sure I could focus on my studies, so as the most responsible senior ever to Barzini, he is BANNED from Fanfiction from March onwards until his O levels are over. So, reviewers, if you ever see Barzini publish a story before November, FLAME HIM! I shall personally do so as well. I even drafted out how my review would sound like: "HOW DARE YOU COME ON FANFICTION TO PUBLISH YOUR STORY DON'T YOU HAVE O LEVELS TO STUDY FOR?"**

**Anyway, R&R! :D**


	10. Friends: Kishon's POV SPECIAL!

_-click-_

The door opened weakly, gliding along the clean floor effortlessly, as it welcomed its master into the compound. "I'm home," Kishon yelled out, to no one in particular; the greeting had become one of habit now. He wasn't surprised that a reply couldn't be heard. After all, no one was supposed to be home. He sighed as he trudged to his room, and heaved his bag onto the bed, which felt relatively lighter despite missing only a few notes, before immediately snapping out the two Pokéballs from under his belt, releasing a tall Gabite and a petite Cerine into his small room; it was a wonder such a pathetic room could still fit all of them without overflowing.

The Gabite had multiple bruises from the battle that morning. For him to take a Seismic Toss and still be able to stand after that was amazing in its own right; his Pokémon had never failed him. The Gabite had begun to tip over in fatigue when both Kishon and the Ralts assisted him back up. "Careful there, Gair," he whispered, in slight distress, as he helped the wounded Gabite to the bed, where the trio sat down. "Cer, would you?" Kishon notioned to his Ralts, who responded with a quiet salute, hopped up to the Gabite's wounds, and closed her eyes as her horn shone with a soft aura. Soon enough, leaves began to sweep in from the nearby open window, and covered the Gabite's body with it.

Meanwhile, Kishon merely patted Gairbith on his head, and with a soft smile, assured him, "You did good, Gair. Don't worry." The Gabite looked on in both disappointment and assuredness; he had failed his master, but yet, that gave him a greater drive to prove him wrong. He replied with a weak cry, to which Kishon smirked.

These two Pokémon had accompanied him since he had started school at Lanseal Academy, and they already were his closest friends. They had led relatively quiet lives, avoiding all the cliques and groups of students at school, for reasons he didn't really like to think about. But they'd always needed each other, anyway. A boy, a Gible, and a Ralts. An unlikely trio, but that always worked out, in the end.

Cerine's horn's aura began to dwindle, and that's when the leaves themselves began to flutter away, feebly, in the wind. Gairbith leapt up to his feet, a ferocious bloodlust finally returning to his eyes; however, this disappeared with a stern glare from Kishon. "Good job, Cer."

The two Pokémon smiled at each other and leapt up in joy. They were once again ready for another session.

However, Kishon had lost himself deep in his own thoughts.

_That moron._

_That Castform would be easy enough to beat in a single trainer double battle. Ugh, no! I shouldn't be thinking that way…Surely, her other Pokémon would've easily backed her Castform up…_

_But such a cheap tactic; I should've seen through it. That moron! If he hadn't intervened, I wouldn't have embarrassed myself in front of the class…No matter._

_Benry and Romeo._

_What utterly useless distractions._

_You're my next target._

He found himself being shaken awake by both a concerned Gairbith and a worried Cerine. "Ruuu?" Cerine shyly chirped.

"I'm fine. I'm sorry, Gairbith. We shouldn't have lost that match. Can we practise some more?" Kishon asked as he shook himself awake.

"Gaaaar!" "Ruu!" were his replies.

Kishon smirked at the enthusiastic response. His Pokémon were always hardworking, and never, ever let him down. "Okay, guys. Our agenda for today. Gair, you've gotta perfect Outrage, and Cer, Shadow Ball. Then, after that, let's rest up and gather more info about Azelf."

This itinerary was met with firm salutes by both Pokémon, after which, Kishon grabbed his bag, ran out the door with his two friends beside him, and locked the door behind him. "Let's go, guys!"

* * *

**Awwww KISHON THAT WAS SO AWESOME OF YOU TO SEND THIS TO ME :D I SHALL FORGIVE YOU FOR NOT REVIEWING...!**

**OC SUBMISSION STILL ONGOING!**

**Name**

**Gender**

**Personality**

**Trait  
**

**Role (Student, Teacher, Relative, Team Rocket person)**

**Pokemon (Two of them if you're a student; Gender, Personality, Nickname)**

**Background Story (:D)**

**Relation to any Character**

**You can check if I missed out anything. I'm super tired now...  
**


	11. Similar: Barzini's POV

"Charis… I'm begging you… Just this last time?" I pleaded to a stubborn senior as we looked at the full-grown Salamence. Noldor even whimpered for me.

"NO! NO MORE PARTIES!" She said stubbornly, and thrust the book, _Pass with Distinction_ into my hand. She jabbed a finger at a question on Differentiation. "Do your work!" she commanded and I meekly obeyed.

Firaga, looking at his fierce trainer proudly, decided to copy her actions by taking her dictionary and whacking Noldor with it. The Charizard snorted as a form of laughter as the smaller Salamence grunted. Skittles grinned, the Delcatty enjoying the entertainment. Silvan, my Dragonair, looked on and rolled his eyes.

It had been like this ever since I blurted out, very proudly, that my math was atrocious. To quote Garfield the Meowth, "Me and my big voice chip."

As she scrolled through her Mac in frustration, I couldn't help but giggle. Charis had been trying to master the art of using a Mac for like… 2 weeks? And she STILL has not gotten the hang of it.

"What are you doing?" I asked, in one hand, holding a pen and in the other, a calculator as I stared at the Differentiation question as if it was a prize. An easy question is not easy to find in Additional Mathematics in Singapore. I swear Charis' life on that…

"Stal- I mean… Looking at my friends in Facebook." She said, and I tried to control my laughter. Any further provocations would mean more work to do. "...I know what you're thinking, Barzini."

"Ok… I'm done!" Katie pushed her notebook across the table to Charis who looked at it approvingly and I threw Katie a glare. How dare she not wait for me.

"Alright, Katie, you are free to go. YOU!" Charis turned to look at me, and she boomed, "Do your work!"

I groaned and went back to differentiating y with respect to x. Practice makes perfect.

* * *

"Fi-Finally." I stood up and handed the book over to her, and she finally agreed to let me off. As I walked over to the fridge, I took a sidelong look at Katie who had come out of the room wearing a jacket when the temperature in Singapore is 38 degree Celsius.

"Oh no.." I said as I saw her walk over to the Air-Conditioner Remote and flick it on, and tune it down to a freezing 16 degree Celsius.

Charis looked at me, then Katie, then the time.

"Movie time this early?" Charis asked, and I shrugged and got into my own jacket.

"Um, yeah, duh. You nearly killed us just now with Additional math!" I spat.

She ignored me. "I can join you guys right?" Charis asked.

Just then, Markus entered the room in an Eskimo costume. "Hey dudes!" he greeted. Twigs and Swoosh popped into the room, with the Swellow making no attempt to hold back, relishing the moment to show off his new set of wide wings. Like some Pokemon, Swoosh evolved during the Lanseal siege and was now a proud Swellow. His companion, Twigs, was still a Turtwig, but he still looked rather happy despite his small form. Twigs walked past Firaga, admiring his wings, before he went over to sit beside Katie.

"Hey, Markus," Katie greeted as she patted the Turtwig, "join us then!"

Charis grinned. "We have a surprise."

* * *

"WAIT WHAT?" I yelled as Katie took out a Korean Drama from the disc rack.

"Today is Korean Drama day!" Katie said innocently and I pulled out the schedule of Movie programs from the shelf of discs.

The words, "Action/War" had been cancelled and "Korean Dramas" was written beside it.

"This is…" I opened my mouth to retort and saw Charis giving me a death glare. Markus had already launched into a tirade with Katie about how Big Bang did a Secret Garden parody. I looked at the box in her hand. Secret Garden.

"Fine. Fine." I threw my hands into the air and surrendered, and went to the counter where Katie had emptied the letterbox.

"Oh…" I looked at one of the letters, which was sent from my mother.

I opened it, took out the money inside and flung the letter aside. It fell into Katie's lap and as she took a look at it, she stashed it in her pocket, with me fully aware of it.

"Katie… Don't waste your time reading it. Just chuck it into the dustbin over there." I pointed at the dustbin directly beside Katie.

She smiled and shrugged, and I opened my father's letter, took out the money and flung the letter in it aside.

I counted the money, which amounted to several thousands, and went back into my room to keep them in my safe, which I treasured more than… Well… I don't know.

As I went back into the room, the annoying Korean music started again. For your information guys, Korean dramas have the tendency to become a drone after a while and they keep on playing the same music over and OVER. That's why things like The Mentalist and NCIS needs to be kept alive to save all dramas from becoming as cheesy as them.

"This soundtrack...is AWESOME!" Charis squealed. "And did you know Big Bang did a parody of Secret Garden? WHY ARE THEY SO CUTE?"

"I KNOW RIGHT?" Katie screamed in response.

On another note, it does help if the actors are amazingly handsome, which in this case applies to Charis and Katie.

* * *

As the drama came to a close, we found Katie's Forretress, Grenade, and her Furret Slinkie arguing with Markus' Turtwig and Swellow over what seemed to be Charis' poster of the Korean boy band 2PM. Swoosh was crowing in horror while Slinkie was eagerly pointing to one of the boys' face, and then cooing in response.

"T.O.P is so much hotter, I promise you, Slinkie. There is sexy and his voice is up _there_!" Charis pointed out. Swoosh snorted, with Twigs shaking his head in disappointment at his counterpart's rude behaviour. Slinkie cried out in horror when Swoosh purposely stepped on his face, and lunged at the Swellow for an angry Headbutt.

"HEY! Slinkie! Stop fighting!" Katie snapped, but the Furret paid no heed. Swoosh laughed as he flew up in the air, landing on Markus' head proudly.

Markus suddenly gave Katie a smile. "I say this calls for a battle!" he announced, before bursting out of the door.

We all stared at the door. Charis rolled her eyes. "I think we should follow him."

* * *

By the time we found Markus at the field, we found him arguing with Rex, for some unknown reason. Swoosh was looking apologetic, staring at Rex's very upset Sceptile Green. His Manectric, Volt was glaring at Swoosh, shrugging the little Turtwig who was trying to console him. Behind Rex was a girl who looked like she could form ice with her bare hands. She was wearing an innocent-looking lolita dress and boots, and she was clutching her math book and calculator in confusion.

"You're swearing far too much, Rex!" she chided angrily.

"Get the hell away from me, Iris Mikage!" he screamed in response, and she got so upset she hit his already swollen face.

Firaga lumbered up to Green and punched him in the shoulder. Green looked so agitated he punched the Charizard in the stomach, causing Skittles to laugh.

"You all are _not _helping at all!" Charis wailed.

Iris' Pokemon, a Banette and a Drifloon, were nonchalantly watching the whole scene. I was smart enough to move to her side, with Silvan and Noldor following me. "Hey dudes," I greeted. Silvan gave a noble bow and Noldor grunted happily. We moved a few steps away and sat down.

"THAT'S IT!" Rex roared in frustration. "BATTLE. NOW!"

Iris, Katie and Markus all stopped. Firaga suddenly roared eagerly, but Charis pinched his wing and forcefully dragged him over to the sidelines, with Skittles giggling the whole way through.

Markus bounded over to Rex's side. "Dude, sorry Swoosh hit your Sceptile. Let's fight against the annoying girls, yeah?" He looked at Twigs. "Come on, Twigs!"

"Turtwig!" Twigs happily went over while Swoosh dejectedly flopped back next to Green, who suddenly smirked and stood up straight.

Rex sighed. "Green, if you battled, we'd have two Grass Pokemon, so you'll have to watch for this battle." His Manectric, Volt, grinned as he trotted up, nodding at Twigs in acknowledgement.

Iris and Katie were already getting ready. "SLINKIE! SHOW MARKUS THAT HIS POKEMON CAN NEVER DEFY THE AWESOMENESS OF YOUR 2PM KOREAN POP!" The Furret had never looked so fierce as she jumped up and growled.

Iris motioned for her Banette. "Sveta, let's go! Matthew, just relax, kay?"

At the mention of his name, the Drifloon nodded and floated next to Grenade. The Forretress gave him a polite nod before they both turned to the battle.

I stood up. "This is a battle betwee-!"

Rex cut me off. "Volt, THUNDERBOLT at the Banette!"

The Manectric gave a battle cry and generated sparks from his body. With a mighty roar he discharged all his sparks in the air. They collided against each other and soon they formed a very visible and powerful thunderbolt that struck from the skies. Sveta flinched slightly, but managed to stand her ground, a ghost of a smug grin appearing from her face.

"Sveta, Shadow Ball!" Iris commanded, and before any of us could actually see it, Volt was thrown to a side, grappling with the damage taken from the unexpectedly swift and deadly Shadow Ball.

"Twigs, use Energy Ball!" Markus shouted, and before the Banette could turn, a ball of green glob hit her square in the face.

"Slinkie, Ice Beam on Twigs!" Katie countered. Slinkie threw back her head and blasted a steady stream of strong cold air at Twigs. As it made contact with Twigs, the air froze up and slowed him. The Turtwig jerked back, causing the ice to break and hurting him considerably. Slinkie and Sveta returned back to their original positions, ready for the next attack.

"Twigs, get up buddy!" Markus egged on. The Turtwig, upon hearing Markus, leapt up and nodded reassuringly. "Okay, use Razor Leaf!"

Rex grunted. "A Furret that uses Ice Beam, huh? Okay, Volt, Flamethrower on the Furret!"

Slinkie and Sveta were too preoccupied with dodging the sudden onslaught of leaves slashing at them to notice a gush of fire barrelling towards them. It hit both of them, surprisingly and much to Rex's glee. Sveta took most of the damage, and as she tried to recover she was brutally assaulted by Twigs' leaves.

"Sveta, use Shadow Sneak!" Iris quickly reacted. "On the Turtwig!"

"Volt, use another Flamethrower!"

"Oh no you don't! Slinkie, deflate that flamethrower with your Water Pulse!"

Sveta disappeared as a shadow into the ground just as the Flamethrower went overhead. It didn't hit any of the Pokemon and Slinkie was able to blast a strong Water Pulse back at Volt, sending it reeling back.

"Twigs, Withdraw!"

As Sveta's shadow burst out from behind Twigs, the Turtwig instinctively curled into a tight ball. The Banette struck it repeatedly with her dusty claws, persistent in her attempts to do heavy damage to the Turtwig.

"Volt, help out Twigs and use Thunder Fang on the Banette!" Rex pointed at Sveta, who merely gave them a ghoulish smile, as she continued to hammer Twigs.

"SOLARBEAM!" Markus suddenly screamed. Volt paused in his footsteps and hurriedly ran off to the side as Twigs uncurled himself and released a powerful blast of light in Sveta's face. It was strong enough to engulf the entire field, to the extent that I could hear Firaga roaring in pain at his eyes.

"SVETA!" I could hear Iris scream.

"Banette...!" was Sveta's weak cry as the light dissipated.

As Markus fell to his knees, Charis remarked sarcastically, "So now every time we get blinded by light a Pokemon is sure to evolve? This is getting so damn cliched!"

"That's because your Pokemon can't evolve anymore!" I snapped back and grinned.

"Argh! Sveta!" Iris cried out as the Banette slowly returned to Iris, breathing heavily.

Markus looked in admiration at his Grotle. "Awesome! Okay, use Razor Leaf!"

"Gro_tleeeee_!" Twigs unleashed a flurry of leaves at Sveta and Slinkie. As the leaves rained on the two Pokemon, Sveta let out a pitiful cry as she fell over, knocked out from the battle.

"Aw, man!" Iris shouted in annoyance. "We could've won!"

"Wait, since when were we losing?" Katie snapped. "Slinkie and I can do this!"

"Nah...looks like its over." Rex jerked his head at Markus and Swoosh, the three of them hugging emotionally. Twigs was already in tears, but Markus...he was bawling his eyes out.

Iris frowned. "Damn."

I stood up and walked up to Iris. "Here's a Sitrus berry. Go ahead and feed Sveta. She did well!" I smiled. "By the way, the name's Barzini!"

"And I'm Katie!" Katie greeted. "And...um, there's Charis screaming at her Charizard."

Iris nodded her head eagerly. "Yeah, I know about Charis. Heard that she's a pretty good battler. And apparently one of the prettiest girls in school?"

All hell broke loose. If there was one thing I knew about Charis, it was that she resented her own appearance to the extent that she would go all out to tell anyone that she was not pretty, for some unknown reason. So Charis smacked her Charizard and marched up to Iris. "Who the _heck _is that crazy _blind _person?"

"Me!" a small boy chirped, and he was so close to us that Charis and Katie screamed in unison. "I'm Ray!"

"Oh, I heard of you. Jayden kept on mentioning you because..." Charis paused for effect, "...you've been _stalking _us!"

"Jayden? You mean that scary woman who keeps on hitting me? The one with the Ivysaur and Kirlia?" Ray widened his eyes in horror.

Charis, Katie and I exchanged knowing glances. "Uh...yeah, you know her?"

"YEAH! Her and that scary dude who always has a Larvitar who wants to KILL ME!" Ray suddenly grabbed my shoulders. "YOU GOTTA HELP ME!"

I could hear Noldor chuckle. "Dude, do I know you?" I asked.

"You do now! We're gonna be awesome friends!" Ray gave me an awkward hug. I was a head taller than him and this was getting...gross.

This time, Noldor gave me a cheesy grin, before he let out a hearty roar. It was a Salamence laugh, and a very taunting one at that. Ray suddenly looked up form the awkward hug. "COOL IS THAT A SALAMENCE?"

Noldor's face fell and this time, I burst out laughing. "Go ahead, PET HIM!" I teased, and the Salamence let out a pitiful cry as Ray ran up to him.

That was when I saw his Pokemon, a Shuppet and a Smeargle.

"Hey, Natalya, and Anna! Check this out!" Ray gushed.

Natalya was the Shuppet. She watched the Salamence from afar and shook her head. I could see why – to dodge Ray, Noldor was lying on his back, rolling as fast as his large dragon body could carry him. She looked at me through her black glasses and let out a low sigh as she flitted over to greet the other Pokemon around.

Anna was probably the Smeargle. She looked as though she had glasses on as well – squarish ones to be exact. She ran across the field, leaving behind a trail of bright green paint. "Smeee!" she yelled out joyfully as she ran to her trainer. She suddenly stopped, ran back to Iris, and smeared a good load of green paint all over her Math book.

"...I suddenly want to strangle that Ray dude." Iris hissed in deep contempt.

Rex rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Now if you excuse me, I'm going for my lessons, which I presume you all don't have since it's already 5 minutes into lesson."

"WHAAAAT?" Charis was the first to react. "B-But IT'S MS CRYSTAL'S CONTEST CLASS! I CAN'T BE LATE! FIRAGA, FLY NOW!"

Firaga grunted in response as Charis and Skittles quickly mounted his back. "See you guys later AND DON'T BE LATE FOR LESSON!"

* * *

It was the end of school. Finally. We all finished our homework without Charis' help (she said something about a test tomorrow for her) and we were all resting in relative peace.

"Barzini? Can we talk?" I heard Katie's voice from outside, I was busy killing zombies in Left 4 Dead 2. But for Katie? Anytime.

I exited the game and unlocked the door, and in stepped Katie, dressed in a… Kingdom Hearts gown and with her blonde hair tied up into a bun?

Wow.

"Uhm… Pardon my… Intrusion of privacy…" Katie started but I cut across her, "You read my letter and would like to ask me something?"

She nodded slowly and I gestured for her to sit down on the floor, which I preferred to, as well.

"You see… Both of the letters from your parents have kept on asking you to reply to them, which I take you neglected to do so. Right?" She asked slowly, unsure whether she was pushing her luck.

I nodded steely and she heaved a sigh of relief.

"At least I figured out where you got the money from things other than berry sales, I thought that you were involved in illegal activities!" She said at a lame attempt at humour.

Sorry, Katie, my laughing buds kind of died from the lateness of the night.

"Uhm… Anyway, I guess you hate your parents? For some… Reason?" Katie motioned for me to speak, which surprisingly, I did.

"Just don't like them. They separated and I take the brunt of everything. I have had enough. You understand?" I said, as nicely as I could, trying to control the anger within me.

Katie nodded slowly, muttering something about "We're in the same boat. Your parents, my brother."

I ignored that remark and continued, "They only started trying to locate me a year back. Enough was enough. I just appreciate the money. But sorry, its wasting ink replying the letters."

Katie nodded slowly and sighed.

I stood up and asked briskly, "Tea?"

She shook her head and asked for the more practical Coca Cola. Typical. Kingdom Hearts with Cola. Woo.

Charis will be incensed if she sees that scene… Oh… Will she ask me to do more Mathematics questions if she found out?

Katie accepted the can of Cola and slowly savoured the pH 1 drink as it is. The fragrance of Meganium leaves flooded the room as I poured out a teacup of it, freshly brewed.

"Hey, Barzini. Don't be upset. Smile." She said, squeezing my hand.

Was it just me or was my face getting hotter?

I pulled my hand away and stuttered, "Uhh… Yeah… Thanks."

She saw my moody expression and jabbed me at the side, which I yelled painfully. She apparently forgot that I had received a "Super Effective! Darren has taken 50 damage from Pin Missle!"

"I'm sorry!" She gasped and after a while, for some reason unknown, I began to laugh.

She couldn't help but smile.

* * *

**Author's Note (Barzini): Well… Last chapter I'm ever going to write for this. It really makes me upset you know. How a tyrannical senior oppresses me and all. HEHE.**

**But anyway, I have made Charis promise to finish the story as it is, and she has compromised to do two things which I will state here in case she tries to edit my author's note and in that situation, I will attack her in the Review section. Trust me, the negotiation process was really really tough as she IS stubborn when she wants to be. But in the end, we both agreed that FanFiction is more profitable than games. Remember, Charis… Don't delete anything or suffer my wrath. HEHE.**

**I will stop writing for Lousy Reality ONLY. My other projects will continue as planned. The HHr (Harry-Hermione Relation), No, I Do Not Regret for Harry Potter. Solemn Promises, Solemn Wishes for FictionPress which is a work underway. Besides that fact, she will approach me for my POV when she writes for me. Eg. What I'll do if I were to witness the death of one of the OC and I mean it.**

**She WILL continue to write for this story, and as long as I have a breathe remaining, I will make sure she does so.**

**On a happier note, Charis is REALLY giving me tuition. And boy… IS she strict. Other than the lame quirks we get once in a while due to boredom, such as things like… uhm…**

**Ok, people reading this. Stretch out a finger. That is a spear.**

**Now shake that finger. What is it called? SHAKESPERE! **

**:D**

**Yeh… Epic lameness for the way. By the way, you can reach me at my profile in this link here.**

**HYPERLINK ".net/~barzini" ****.net/~barzini**

**Drop a kind note of "Good luck for O Levels!" or "Own Charis for O Levels please!"**

**I appreciate them. So… Do I have anything else to say?...**

**Yes… I do.**

**I'll be keeping an eye on the Review section, yes Charis and I are authors who do care about our reviewers and appreciate every little comment you people make. I'll also be following the story like all of you, maybe I need to remind Charis to try not to make Barzini, OOC or Out of Character for you new people in Fanfiction. But, it will be a challenge, and I hope she lets me see what she has written before she posts it on the net, so that way, I will be able to try to make Barzini more into my character.**

**But of course, my greatest thanks to Charis for introducing me to FanFiction in the first place. Last time, if you told me FanFiction Call of Duty (Yes, me and my geekness), I would have ranted on how awesome it is and stuff, defending COD to my last breath. But now, I admit that FanFiction is a much more "profitable" thing to do than shooting people in a virtual world. At least, writing builds a virtual world for your readers. It just ties in even better. My English is also kept at tip-top condition thanks to the beloved senior, Charis.**

**Anyway, unlike the other folks in my level, I do not need to sit for O Levels during the June Holidays as I have already aced my Chinese paper, Charis did too, but lost to me by a grade (HEE), but with all due respect, her Chinese isn't as bad as people make it out to be. I see improvements. REALLY!**

**Just like to add this little thing to this whole lot of nonsense that I have been sprouting, how did Lousy Reality come about?**

**Take a bored Senior and a very bored Junior saying random things about Pokémon on MSN, during the holidays, and you get things like…**

**If only we all use Mareep and all, there would be no more global warming!**

**Charizard planes :D**

**Sunkern Orange juice! :P**

**And the end product:**

**Charis: I feel like writing something like this.**

**Me: Go ahead, I'll even help!**

**Charis: You sure? Really?**

**Me: Yeh! Totally!**

**EQUALS TO-** ** Pokemon: The Lousy Reality**

**Okay guys and gals. Wish you all a brilliant year ahead and hope to hear from you in my profile! By the way, feel free to add me on MSN or Windows Live Messenger! My email can be found on my profile page. Just click that email button over there :/**

**Cheers! **

**Signing off, a crying Barzini.**

**Au Revoir!

* * *

**

**This is a message from LILMISSS:**

**...This was a long ending note. I think my parting note was "GOODBYE FANFICTION -cries-" Or something. Oh well. YES, I HAVE BANNED BARZINI FROM WRITING THIS UNTIL HIS O LEVELS ARE OVER. Shoot me.**

**I think, depending on how the story goes, I'll write in Charis' POV. Barzini's POV is...awkward to write. But occasionally I'll use his POV and all. **

**Plus, I shall only concentrate on certain OCS in every chapter. It would be a combination of new and old characters every time I hope. **

**See you all. And if you want Barzini's POV, just drop it in the review. Oh, and any feedback. Yeah. Plus, OC submission is still open though it'll take a few chapters to see your character.**

**Name**

**Gender**

**Age – You're 16 if you're Charis' batch and 15 if you're Barzini's batch, but any age if you're not a student**

**Role – Student, Teacher, Team Rocket etc. **

**Appearance – a rough one...**

**Personality**

**Pokemon – Two if you're a student, and a maximum of 6. I AM NOT ACCEPTING 5TH GENERATION POKEMON. I will only accept them when I start playing the damn game D: Also, please include nicknames for them.**

**Personality of Pokemon**

**Any relation with any character – and I mean ANY character. You can apply to be Charis' tuition teacher or something.**

**PLEASE DO TELL ME, IN YOUR REVIEW:**

**What you liked about the story so far**

**What you hated/didn't really like about the story, and how it can be improved (Irregular updates are NOT allowed if you hate me that much D:)**

**Any aspects of Singapore, or Asia that you're curious about (like the ban on chewing gum, or the Chinese culture, or the education system!)**

**Any aspects of reality that you would like to see linked with Pokemon**

**ANYTHING YOU WOULD LIKE TO TELL ME ABOUT MY STORY, IN ESSENCE! :D**

**And this chapter should win an award for the first chapter to be edited on a Macbook!**


	12. Rush: Charis' POV

**I shall explain my absence later. For now, I'm going to try something out. I'm going to insert the names of all the characters that will be appearing in one section of the chapter. When the story suddenly started getting tons of OCs, I miraculously managed to fit in many of them, but from the very beginning I knew there HAD to be someone who was confused.**

* * *

Days have past since the whole Team Rocket fiasco. School was pretty much back to normal, except for a teacher who kept on screaming if she heard anything fly past. If you want to know why I know this...just ask Firaga. The Charizard always looked pleased listening to the teacher's wails.

What apparently happened was that after Team Rocket left, while I was being taken to the hospital, Firaga hid somewhere (though being a Charizard, it's kinda hard to hide), draped a huge black cloth over himself, set the cloth on fire, and then flew at the teacher. Upon seeing a huge flying black cloth on fire, the teacher screamed, ran around the school, then fainted. Coincidentally, she was the teacher who never failed to whack Firaga with a cane and her trolley when I was in her Chinese class, back when I was in Secondary 1.

And now...Mid-Years.

"I can't take this!" Jayden screamed in class, gripping at her hair. She snarled at Lila Nola Patch, who was nonchalantly chewing on gum, "How can _you _get such awesome gra-"

"Ms Rivers. Your test paper?" Ms Stella Ziroc placed Jayden's paper face-down.

"Oh. Thanks. Anyway. As I was saying, how can _you _get such awesome grades when all I'm getting for Berry Knowledge is...!" she flourished her paper without taking a single peek at it, and waved it at Lila's face, "_this_!"

Aeleus and I caught a glance at her paper, and this time, I screamed, "Jayden! LOOK. AT. YOUR. GRADES."

Lila smiled. "High five, 90-mark partner."

Jayden glared and shook her fist. "Do _not _call me you- oh. I did pretty well, huh." She looked at Ms Stell sheepishly and sat down.

Aeleus rolled his eyes. "At this rate, you'd get tons of heart attacks during the mid-year examinations in two weeks' time. Have fun dying over and over again, Jayden."

"HEY! I don't have clogged arterie-"

Kishon groaned. "Do _not _start on Biology...!"

And then I got back my test results. Before I could even see my marks, Kishon slammed my hand on the table and took away my paper. He smirked when he saw my grade, and slipped it back on my table.

"...Kishon, if I had a Keyblade right now, I'd pulverize you."

"But you don't have one, _do _you?"

"...Damn."

I took a peek at my results and-

"HOLY MILTANK. YOU GOT 91?" Jayden screamed in horror as she pointed a finger at me.

**(As a sad, sad disclaimer, I have never seen a 91/100 on my test paper. In my entire 17 years of existenc- wait, I'm not even 17 yet, bahh)**

Everyone turned to stare at me and to possibly jab a million metaphorical daggers in my body.

In Singapore, you are expected to do well in every single subject, score as many As as possible, and be the model child that your parent can boast about. "How's your child's results?" is probably one of the most popular questions ever to exist in every single parent's mouth aside from the other question "Have you done your homework?"

It is also the second most asked question of Singaporeans, second only to the infamous question "What do we eat?", or in Singlish, "Eh, what to eat ah?"

So, from a young age, as young as one, you are dumped in any and every enrichment class your parents can pay for, and if you get a B, you're expected to buck up, or take tuition. Bookstores are attacked viciously by parents who want to grab every single assessment book they can find, so their children will not only have more than sufficient practices, they will also be deluded into thinking that they will top the school, earn scholarships, and be the talk of every neighbour in their neighbourhood.

And the assessment book-buying habit can actually spread to the child itself. Which pretty much stinks.

Unless your parents happen to be really nice (which is almost never), your parents are, to you, the definition of 'tiger parents'.

The funny thing is this – I don't even _have _tuition; only assessment books I buy for myself. And guide books. And one tuition for Chinese.

So I merely sunk into my seat as my class silently continued to receive their papers. Once you have been identified as the top student, people would actually try to beat you in your grades, then laugh in your face or something.

Oh well.

* * *

When I got out of class, I was met with a really scary scene of Firaga trying to pin down a much larger Charizard. And juxtaposing the ferocious scene was Skittles playing with a rather stoic-looking Houndoom.

And one very familiar girl staring right at me.

She looked at me and gave me a warm smile that ironically sent chills up my spine. "Oh. I didn't know you studied here, Charis." Her face didn't show any form of surprise.

"Um...hi." I looked at Firaga. He didn't seem to want to give up fighting the monstrosity of a Charizard that she had, so I sighed. "Okay, Firaga, let's go..."

"Grrahhhhh!" Firaga snapped at me angrily, flapping his wings aggressively. He spun back to face his Charizard opponent Rage, and snarled. He spread his wings out, as though to shield me.

Sabrina smiled and chortled. "Oh my, looks like a puny Charizard wants a battle."

And then, like in those evil movies where the evil-looking man comes out of the darkness with an evil-looking Pokemon, a guy who looked like he could pass off as my older brother (and I must stress that I have _no _older brother to speak of) appeared. Just that instead of evil-looking Pokemon, he had Pokeballs locked securely on his belt. He pulled out one and released a vicious-looking Croconaw. "Jaws would like to play too..."

I shivered. I read about the movie 'Jaws'. Evil Carvanha and Sharpedoes ripping that poor Jigglypuff and her trainer...

"HEY! Don't bully Girl Who Got Ninety Freakin One Marks!" Jayden Rivers suddenly leapt out of the light (I think she was in the garden and saw that the overabundant bright light could conceal her and hence she could make her random ninja attacks) with her Kirlia and Ivysaur following suit. "You mess with her, you mess with _me_! And ain't _no _way you messin' round with _me_!"

"...Jayden, since when did you adopt that form of speech?" I asked curiously.

Jayden got out of her ninja stance and rolled her eyes. "I have this strange obsession with ninjas and cool talk recently. I don't know if the Liar Game manga you told me about influenced me..."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Jayden, I doubt the Liar Game characters Akiyama and Kanzaki Nao would...use such language. Akiyama's too hot for that, and Nao is just..."

"...True. But...not even Fukuna-"

"Shut it. I don't know what you're saying," the boy interrupted, "and aren't we going to battle?"

Sabrina groaned and shook her head. "Skralem, you're a total _idiot _when it all boils down to civilization itself..."

Rage and Jaws exchanged serious nods, while Skittles, _finally _noticing the intense atmosphere (the fact that I was breaking out in sweat was proof enough...or it could just be Singapore's weather) trotted towards my side, licking her paw. "Nyah?" she asked me in meek concern, but I simply shrugged it off with a smile.

"I don't know what is up with your Charizard Rage...but if it's a battle you're initiating, I'll do it!" I announced. "On the condition...that Rage leaves Firaga alone, whatever the results."

Firaga snarled in agreement, facing his opponents. Jayden looked at Seishin and nodded her head. "You go girl!"

"Kir!" Seishin chimed in and floated over to the Charizard.

As Kirlia took her place, Jaws and Rage launched into attack. Jaws launched a powerful Hydro Pump that Firaga neatly dodged by flying, and Rage lunged towards Seishin, his talons glowing with a dark aura. At the last moment, the Kirlia suddenly teleported and launched a pink beam at the back of Rage's head.

Firaga, upon seeing his partner using the offensive, stopped mid-air, and then clenched his fist tightly. Sparks flew from his fist as it glowed a blinding yellow. Then, the Charizard swooped down fast enough to smash his Thunderpunch right in Jaws' face.

Meanwhile, Jayden and I finally regained our composure and started to realise what just happened. "HEY! You're supposed to tell us when we begin, right?" Jayden snapped.

"Well, Rivers, this is a battle. You're not in the Pokemon game where you attack based on your Speed. Besides, even if we _did_ follow that rule, Rage would go first." Sabrina stretched and languidly leaned against the wall behind her. She gave us a pitiful smile.

"Battles aren't governed by anything but the trainer himself." Skralem stated simply, pointing at us. "And if the trainer is weak...the Pokemon is likely to follow."

I laughed. "Please. I can't even run 2.4 kilometres without dying of frustration, and my Pokemon can still pretty much hold their own." I looked at Jayden. "I got a bronze for my NAPFA."

NAPFA. A test of your physical health, Gold being the best, and Bronze being the worst. There were grades lower than F, but no one ever got them. A compulsory test beginning at the age of 10 and ending...when you work or something.

Jayden smiled; I could tell that her spirits dampened due to the lousy pair of opponents we were up against. "I got a gold."

"Naturally, for Mrs Machamp..." I mumbled sarcastically.

Sabrina rolled her eyes. "You're just playing dumb. You know what he meant. Rage, use Flamethrower!"

I smiled. "Firaga, use Steel Wing to protect Seishin!"

The burst of flames emerging from Rage's mouth made contact with Firaga's wings. It would've damaged his wings, but Steel Wing allowed his wings to be turned into a strong tough metal; thin enough to fly, yet strong and durable enough to resist anything.

Like a Steel- type Pokemon.

As I saw Firaga's wings glow red-hot with the Flamethrower, I shouted, "Steel Wing on the Croconaw!"

The Croconaw, upon realising the Charizard charging at it with glowing wings, immediately countered it with a cold blast of Water Pulse. Firaga, remembering the technique, turned slightly such that his wings made in contact with the Water Pulse. The cold water instantly vaporized into thick steam that engulfed the arena. Jaws looked around in confusion as the steam fogged up his vision.

"Thunderpunch!" I yelled. Jaws panicked as he saw a blur of deep red charging towards him. He threw himself to a side, but Firaga had the foresight to fly up instead. He then swooped down, electrified knuckles meeting with Jaws' head.

"Crooooooo!" Jaws cried out in agony. Firaga snorted and flew up from the cloud of water vapour, triumphant and completely unaware of Rage looming above him.

"Seismic Toss!" Sabrina commanded, and Rage did a terrifyingly swift nose dive. Rage slammed Firaga down to the ground, and then hovered above him cautiously to see if Firaga would make a move.

"Seishin, Psychic and throw Rage out!" Jayden yelled out. The Kirlia's horn and eyes glowed a deep petrifying red; it soon changed into a kaleidoscope of colours. Rage found himself grappling for control as he levitated mid-air, and in a sudden fluid movement, the Charizard was thrown backwards, towards the unsuspecting Croconaw.

"Oh yeah! We totally did that!" Jayden cheered, as she watched the Croconaw stagger back to his feet, only to fall back, wiped out by the attacks dealt to him.

Then we both looked at Rage, the scar-ridden Pokemon still standing strong. If Pokemon could speak, Firaga would be muttering profanities. I could hear the smaller Charizard grumbling under his breath. Seishin simply glared at her opponent.

"Let's do it, Charis!" Jayden urged me, as she punched a fist into the air. "Seishin, use Psychic!"

Once again, Seishin's eyes glowed and widened, indicating that the Kirlia was using all her strength in this single attack. A harsh light engulfed Rage, and then Seishin threw her head back. With that, Rage was abruptly tossed up in mid-air.

Firaga roared and took flight, ascending the skies of Singapore. He overtook the still-dazed Rage, and then he stopped a few metres short of Rage. "Body Slam!" I yelled.

"Seishin, use Psychic to send them down faster!"

Firaga grabbed Rage by his arms and blazed his way downwards. The two entities glowed a bright pink and I could see them suddenly accelerate from a great height, thanks to a Psychic from Seishin yanking them down.

"Now, Iron Tail!" Firaga shoved Rage down to the ground, and slammed his metallic tail on him. The ground coughed up a swirl of dust, barricading our view of what just happened.

"Did we win?" Jayden asked, and I coughed in response. Stupid dust.

"Unfortunately...no," Sabrina answered as we struggled to open our eyes. We saw a huge crater in the ground, made by the impact of Rage smashing down, and a bewildered Firaga, staring at his very own tail captured by Rage.

"Throw him away, Rage," Sabrina commanded, and the heaving Charizard nodded. With a swift motion of his hand, Firaga was sent crashing into a wall headfirst. Seishin widened her eyes in confusion, just as Jayden screamed, "NO WAY!"

"Rage, Shadow Ball. Have no mercy."

Rage grunted and generated a deep dark ball of energy, radiating with death. He shot out not one, but several Shadow Balls at Seishin's direction. Seishin teleported safely out of the way, only to be hit by the last Shadow Ball created.

The Shadow Balls that missed Seishin rained on Firaga, blow by devastating blow. Finally, Firaga stood up and deflected the Shadow Balls with his easily-generated Fire Punch. His eyes were narrowed – NOW he was serious?

"Ugh! Firaga, you sure you can figh-!" I didn't need a reply as Firaga swept his tail playfully and tripped me successfully. "FINE, I get it! You didn't need to do that!"

I was met with an arrogant snicker.

"Fine. Firaga, Thunderpunch!"

Sabrina grinned. "You have _got _to be kidding me. Rage, Shadow Claw."

Talons connected with fists as the two Charizards became locked in a battle of speed and reflexes. They exchanged what seemed like fatal punches and scratches, until Seishin decided to take action. Her eyes shone a resonating pink again and that alone was enough to immobilize the larger Charizard.

"Hey, Rage, fight back!" Sabrina snapped, her patience thinning fast.

Rage simply shut his eyes angrily.

Firaga quickly jumped at the chance to deal a flurry of lightning-quick Thunderpunches at Rage, taking out everything on him. And finally, Firaga decided to end everything, and finished off what he couldn't do before – an Iron tail right into Rage's snout.

Rage roared in pain, and then fell backwards, defeated and exhausted from battling. Firaga, upon seeing his fallen opponent, grinned and gave an arrogant roar.

Seishin, exhausted mentally, plopped down on the ground, her eyes closed in what seemed like meditation. Firaga followed suit quite quickly, though he decided to lie down face up and swish his tail. He gave a loud yawn.

Then we all turned to Sabrina, who glared at both of us.

"Shade, use Shadow Ball."

The Houndoom, who was watching Skittles from the roof-top, sprung down and fired dozens of Shadow Balls...that were meant for _us_.

"HEY!" I screamed as a Shadow Ball nearly amputated my leg and tore off my head. I stumbled backwards and watched in horror as Firaga was slammed into the ground by the unforeseen Shadow Ball. I looked back at Skittles, who was already hit by a personally-delivered Flamethrower. She stood her ground, retaliating with an inpromptu Water Pulse that missed the prepared Houndoom.

Jayden hastily rummaged her pockets for her Pokeballs. She called out for her Ivysaur and Kirlia. "Seishin, Chikyu, return!" Seishin gladly obliged, but Chikyu used his vine whip to stop Jayden from returning him to his Pokeball. The Ivysaur glared at the next wave of Shadow Balls headed our way and made quick work of them with a multitude of Razor Leaf hacking at them.

"Hey, do you want to be _killed_?" Jayden snapped at me. "That girl's gone bonkers, so come on! _Ninja time_!" She then proceeded to dodge roll away, missing a Shadow Ball pretty quickly.

I screamed again as a Shadow Ball landed at my feet. I found my Pokeballs and summoned both Skittles and Firaga back into them, just as the final wave of Shadow Balls ended...and I found Shade right at my feet, teeth bared and tail flicking in pure evil.

If I had a half-full bladder, I would've wet myself right there and then, which would be extremely embarrassing, yet completely understandable, considering the fact that the Houndoom's face looked like he came out of the M-rated gory version of Twilight...not that there _was _such a movie.

"Um...nice...Houndoom...?" I volunteered weakly, before I spotted a teacher lurking nearby. My mouth worked fast. "HEY TEACHER, MIND HELPING?"

"Why, hello, Mr Grunt," Sabrina greeted politely and innocently, as though she had never launched an all-out assault on both of us, "care helping _me _out?"

Mr Grunt was a teacher I had never, _ever _seen before, and this was saying something because my third home was practically the staff room; I did my homework there so if I had any questions, I could just ring up my subject teacher, and I could watch the teachers walk into and out of the staff room. He had two Persians circling him thoughfully, like in the Aristomeowths (you know, the famous Disney movie about a pretty Persian, pretty baby Meowths, and alley Persians) where some cats looked evil.

Mr Grunt didn't say anything – all he did was to summon his Beedrill, point at Jayden, and off the deadly Beedrill went, with stinger at the ready and oozing with the infamous poison all Beedrill documentaries raved about (not because it was good, but because it killed too quickly for comfort), flying straight at Jayden.

"Wh-!" Jayden was cut short as a Flamethrower flew in right above her, hitting the Beedrill hard. She turned around, and saw an Infernape laughing at his fallen opponent. He got her up to her feet and then returned back to his trainer's side.

"M-Mr Overholt!" Jayden exclaimed in surprise, as the hulk of a teacher walked forward. He was in a loose sleeveless shirt and track pants, and you could see his muscles rippling out, practically screaming to be complimented. "T-Thanks a bunch!"

"You should've seen _that _one coming, Rivers!" Mr Overholt grinned at her. "Nearly lost your head there, didn't you! Well, I don't know bout Mr Shady Ol' Grunt over there, but I don't like to see headless students, especially a Headless Rivers!"

"R-Right..."

Shade gave me a final glare and then bounded off. He launched himself up and used Slash at the Infernape.

"Monkey King, use a Close Combat!"

The Infernape grabbed Shade's paw at the last moment, catching the Houndoom off guard. Then, he shoved Shade back, and attacked him with his fists and feets at a blistering speed. It was soon game over for the Houndoom as he staggered backwards a little and collapsed in front of Sun Wukong.

"Yeeeees!" Mr Overholt roared; it was so surprisingly deafening that even Firaga lowered his head (slightly) in shame. "We _did _it, Sun Wukong!"

The Infernape did a screeching noise so strange it could not be expressed in words.

"And _you two_!" Mr Overholt snapped. "And _Mr Grunt_!"

"They have been excused." Mr Grunt replied calmly, looking at Sabrina and Skralem. "They had been...provoked."

"_PROVOKED_?" Jayden roared. "_You_ little-!"

I grabbed at Jayden before she could do something that would kill Sabrina and the dubious-looking teacher. "Jayden, leave them!" I managed, as she tried to wrench out of my Ursaring hug. "We...have _class_!"

Jayden stopped and widened her eyes. "OH YEAH! Our trial contest!"

* * *

"OHMYGAWDI'MSOSORRYI'MLATEMRJUAN!" Jayden burst as we barged into the sprawling Pokemon Stadium. There were several classes going on at different parts of the stadium.

"Well...I don't think I'm this _Mr Juan_ you speak of..." the female teacher looked at us curiously, then she referred to her class list. "Oh, so you're Jayden Rivers and Charis Hon?"

"Yeep!" we both chorused.

"Mm, okay, take a seat, girls; we're starting our Contest reaaaal soon!" She clicked at her Macbook hurriedly. Her Chimecho, Chime, flitted about gracefully, and I stared in awe at what seemed like a shimmerin trail wherever the shiny green Chime went.

"And...here are the listings for today! At Court 1..."

"She's...so cool...!" Elena gushed.

"Rose!" her Roselia, Bloom chirped in.

Skittles settled down next to me and started to mew at Chime's glittery path.

"...and at Court 3, Jayden, Charis, Kimberly and Iris."

Kimberly stood up and tugged at her skirt. "Well, girls, we'll see you at Court 3!" She gave us all a friendly wave, before running off, her Pichu on her head and her Leafeon dashing ahead.

Jayden and I exchanged bored looks. "Time to dress up our Pokemon..."

Skittles simply nodded at me, then trotted off to dress up by herself. Jayden's Ivysaur sighed resolutely and followed behind the Delcatty.

I hated dressing up. I had to align my outfit with Skittles' outfit when usually, it'd be the other way round. The last time I took charge of dressing up, I failed the first component of the contest. It took a ten-second battle (in which Firaga just walked up to the opponent, roared in the Pokemon's face, and then watched triumphantly as the Pokemon fell over and fainted) and a crazy appeal round for me to manage out second place. So...

"Skittles...you want me to wear..._this_?" I exclaimed in horror as she slipped on a pink vest that had so many sequins on it my eyes were starting to burn from all the glitter. Skittles had already picked out my outfit – a really gay-looking..._thing _that could pass off as a swimming suit, plus a not-very translucent purple skirt that barely hit my knees. On top of the disgusting stack of bright pink was a neon pink top hat.

Skittles nodded excitedly. She had already taken the liberty to place the offensive clothings in the changing room I was assigned to, so all she did was to headbutt me into the room, then shut the door and locked herself with me.

"...You're joking..." I mumbled as I yanked the curtain to block Skittles' view of me.

* * *

And now I was in one of the most ridiculous get-ups. _Ever_.

"Five minutes are up!" Ms Crystal's voice boomed through the speaker. "Contestants, take your place!"

I saw Elena in a really pretty-looking dress, complete with bright splashes of colour with a chic floral design. She looked at me and suppressed a giggle, but when she saw Ms Crystal coming she started to straighten her dress. Bloom was spinning around her gracefully, spurting out pleasant scents that wafted through the stadium.

"Well, seems like I'm scarred for life, Charis," Jayden remarked sarcastically as she sauntered out in a green tank top and khaki harem pants, "cause I never knew you were the pink person..."

"...I am _not_!" I snapped, looking at myself in the reflection. I paused and stared at myself. I had an argument (a one-sided one, actually) with Skittles over my outfit. So what I did was to compromise – I wore a bright neon pink dress with the top hat.

And I looked...pink.

Kimberly emerged from the fitting room in a simple green dress that screamed "I AM SO SKINNY" right in our faces. Her Leafeon, Hope, glided out, looking as equally elegant as her trainer, a silky ribbon around Hope's ear.

"...I feel like the ugly duckling draped in pink." I looked at my poofy dress. I was reminded of a princess cake.

Iris came out in a dark black skirt, a dark purple shirt with long puffy sleeves at the end and shades. Her Drifloon looked at her approvingly and then nodded at us. Her Banette, Sveta, smiled, then went to the stands beside Firaga, Precious the Pichu and Seishin the Kirlia.

My Charizard was embarrassing himself by trying to reach his toes with his stubby hands. Seishin was trying to levitate in the air _and _make the bench behind them levitate with her. Precious was simply watching Kimberly and Hope in anticipation, and Sveta was showing off to Firaga her strange talent of going through herself (being a ghost and all)

I saw Barzini's class being dismissed, and then sighed as he ran up the stands with his Dragonair and Salamence. "GO CHARIS...AND JAYDEN!"

Ms Crystal came to us and said, "Okay, I'll be your mentor in-charge today, so let's start real soon! Charis Hon and her Delcatty, Skittles?"

"Present!" I replied.

"Jayden Rivers and her Ivysaur Chikyu?"

"Yup!"

"Okay! Kimberly Younan and her Leafeon Hope?"

"Hereeeee~" she said with a tinkle in a voice. I heard collective sighs from the boys in the other arena watching her (and not focusing on their contest)

"Finally, but definitely not the least, Iris Mikage and Matthew the Drifloon!"

Iris nodded and gave Ms Crystal a small smile.

"Great! Okay, since we don't have much time and we need to narrow down the people entering the semi-finals on Thursday, we need to do a quick Pokemon Knock-out, Contest style!"

Contest style. It basically means you attack in a certain way that makes your Pokemon seem cool/cute/whatever. Oh, and because of some silly notion that how your Pokemon battles by itself reflects the trainer-Pokemon bond, trainers aren't allowed to say anything.

"And since the syllabus has changed, we're just having a simple Pokemon contest in which you show off to the world how beautiful your bond between you and your Pokemon is!" Ms Crystal grinned. "Essentially, your O levels just got way easier!"

Right. If Skittles refuses to fight because of a bad fur day on my O level examination day, I'm doomed. And my failure will have nothing to do with my so-called trainer-Pokemon bond.

"Okay!" we all chorused. Barzini pumped his fist in the air, and I was quite sure it was because of his easier O levels next year.

"Right then! Let's begin, girls; Pokemon, take your places! Pokemon Knock-out – let's go!"

Skittles darted off to the side, got on top of a rock and blasted the strongest Icy Wind her little feline mouth could muster. All three Pokemon were drastically affected by the Ice-type move, and I could see Matthew shaking hard.

Glowering, Chikyu started to shake violently as well, but for all the right reasons. In seconds, the bulb at the Ivysaur's back exploded into a gruesome mix of deep purple poison blobs. They shot out in all directions, hitting all three Pokemon.

Hope was already weakened greatly, but she stood on her four feet. The Leafeon lunged at Skittles, determined to deliver a punishing Leaf Blade. Skittles spotted her glowing tail-leaf soon and leapt from her perch on the rock, seconds before the Leaf Blade smashed the rock into smithereens. In mid-air, Skittles generated a ball of dark energy and blasted the Shadow Ball right into Hope, smashing the Leafeon into the ground, where the destroyed rock once was.

Then she watched as Matthew trembled in his levitation. The Delcatty lifted her head up, and saw a spark above her head. She sprinted away from it, but it was quick enough to catch up to Skittles. Thinking quick, she dove beneath Matthew, just as his very own Thunder struck both of them.

I looked up at the scoreboard as Matthew's health points depleted greatly, to a staggering zero as he fell on the ground. His photo changed to grayscale, just like Hope's.

Skittles had taken a little damage, and Chikyu didn't take much damage as well. The two Pokemon glared at each other, then the Delcatty widened her mouth for a Charge Beam. It didn't take very long for Chikyu to unleash a strong Solarbeam as well. The two attacks missed each other by inches, and the two Pokemon swiftly dodged it, interrupting their own attacks.

Chikyu brought out his vines and grabbed at Skittles, who retaliated by freezing them at the final moment. The frozen vines dropped to the ground, and Chikyu found himself struggling to retrieve back his vines. Skittles smiled as the sadist of a Delcatty clambered up on the block of ice that was supposed to be Chikyu's vines, then blasted a cold, painful Blizzard in his face.

"Well! I guess we have a clear winner!" Ms Crystal's voice echoed through the room, as Skittles looked at the frozen Ivysaur. She went up to him and used a Rock Smash to release Chikyu, who shivered and smiled gratefully.

I grinned at Skittles, who ran up to me and gave me a Delcatty hug."Oh yeah! WE TOTALLY ROCK-"

"...Kimberly Younan! Your Leafeon went down in style!"

...Wait. What?

"From the very moment Hope entered the Knock-out, she's been wonderfully stylish! I'm giving you ten bonus points to your score for today, even though you were knocked out first."

...WHAT?

Ms Crystal didn't seem to register my look of horror. "And Iris Mikage! Your Drifloon was very strong, for a Pokemon that hasn't evolved yet!"

B-But a Delcatty was listed in the Top 100 Most Dreadful Pokemon. EVER! Not that I was telling _my _Skittles that.

"Matthew has a strangely mythical way of moving! It's almost too surreal! A beautiful sight indeed. And Jayden Rivers! Your Ivysaur is strong and calm in battle, like a strong pillar."

...Skittles _annihilated _this 'strong pillar' you speak of, Ms Crystal...

"Chikyu delivers attacks so slowly, it's too lethal to watch! And my, oh my, am I impressed by you, Charis Hon!"

If it's too lethal to watch, wouldn't we all be injured by- oh wait, I heard my name. FINALLY!

"Your Delcatty is surprisingly quick, lethal despite her looks and definitely a bright, rising Pokemon! For a Pokemon listed in the Top 100 Most Dreadful Pokemon, Skittles performed brilliantly!"

And to add to Skittles' pain, Ms Crystal added, "It's in your textbook, Charis. Page 83 of _The Ultimate Guide to Pokemon_, volume 2. I'm quite sure your teacher has covered it..."

I turned to my bag and Skittles was already mewing in absolute shock. Firaga, Sveta, Seishin and Precious were all looking for photos of a Charizard, a Banette, a Kirlia and a Pichu respectively. Firaga roared and thumped his belly happily – he was listed in the Top 100 Strongest Pokemon. Or rather, Charizards were.

The Pichu started to bawl her eyes out because she couldn't see a photograph of a Pichu anywhere. Seishin triumphantly pointed to a photo of Gardevoir in the Top 100 Strongest Pokemon list and twirled about gleefully. Sveta simply shrugged and drifted to Iris' side.

Ms Crystal looked at the distraught Delcatty and the Pichu. "I...shouldn't have said that."

* * *

I slipped out of school and quickly flew home. Firaga and Skittles knew today was an important day – my interview for my Direct Polytechnic Admission.

O levels determined where you can go – a junior college or a polytechnic. A junior college is basically for people who want to work their butts off for two more years. It was also an easy way into a university. A polytechnic grooms students for three years to enter the workforce immediately after graduation. It was more relaxed, since unlike junior colleges, or JC, students don't have uniforms and have a way larger school compound.

"Okay, Firaga..." I changed into my interview clothes. "I'm done. Let's go!"

Firaga nodded as I took my map. We headed outside and I slowly got on his back. "Come on, Skittles, they need to see my Pokemon too."

"Meow!" Skittles leapt into my arms and settled down for a confusing journey around Singapore, into...The West.

Lanseal Pokemon Academy was situated in the East; east of Singapore, that is. I stayed in the South. And the polytechnic I was headed to was in the West.

"Okay...I think it's the really big place there...oooh, with the garden. Just land at the entrance, we'll walk to the film and media studies block.

Firaga let us disembark, then flew off to the destination, much to the shock of several students walking by.

"Lazy Charizard," I mumbled to myself as Skittles and I started to walk up the hilly terrain. We passed by students holding huge laptops and books, giggling to themselves. They were all dressed well, or maybe it was just my fashion sense (or my lack of it) speaking.

Skittles ran up the hill with ease, and as for me...

"Huff...huff...OKAY! I have conquered the Nacrene Polytechnic Hill!" Nacrene Polytechnic, or NP. "Stupid hill."

Firaga was there, blocking everyone's way into the air-conditioned canteen. His swishing tail was prominently displayed, and from what I could see, he had jammed the doors open with his entire body to ogle at the canteen. He turned when Skittles nudged him, then grunted excitedly.

"Firaga! GET OUT OF- oh my, that looks good..." I whispered wistfully as someone walked past us with a piping hot waffle with ice cream on top.

We looked at the huge variety of Pokemon and students. There was a group of life sciences students (with their lab coats on) eating vegetables, while a Chansey and Roserade looked on. Two business students in their suits were jabbing away at their laptop keyboard. They had a Rhydon, a Tangrowth, a Spheal and an Eevee seated around the table or on the table, watching their trainers idly. A Togekiss whizzed past us, with a student clutching a fencing sword walked by us, trying very hard to ignore Firaga staring at him.

"Woah..." I gaped in awe. I checked my watch. "Hey, we _really _need to go now. Come on, guys; I'll buy you both waffles once we're through with this.

This was met with enthusiastic support. Firaga immediately flew straight into the building, dragging me recklessly and with Skittles grabbing on to his tail.

* * *

"So...these are your Pokemon?" the male interviewer looked at me with a smile. Firaga and Skittles, who were behind me, exchanged glances, then forced out their biggest smiles they could muster.

The woman interviewer nodded her head approvingly. "Well, Charis, I see your portfolio is filled with science, math, and Pokemon battling competitions so now I need to ask you...Why Mass Communication?"

The male interviewer looked as though he had never heard such an intelligent question. Eager to add on and bubbling with excitement (cause he looked as though he was vibrating in his seat) he remarked, "Yes, you could've been a fantastic trainer if you applied for a scholarship and flew to America or Japan! And you could've been a medical student, or even an engineering student!"

I smiled. "I love my Pokemon, yes, but my dream...is to write." Skittles mewed wistfully, but Firaga simply huffed, though he had a smile on his face. "And...I don't like blood. Plus, I don't see myself doing those careers."

Then I babbled on about how I would love to travel and write everything about it. They shot a few more questions and I answered them. Finally, they stood up and smiled.

"Thank you very much for coming down today, Charis!"

At that, Firaga grinned and patted his belly. The female interviewer's face dropped. "Your Charizard..."

"...Firaga is hungry. That is all I can say."

* * *

"Are you happy with your waffle now?" I asked as I set down two of the most expensive meals I have ever bought. I took their drinks and watched Firaga rip the waffle into shreds. He pushed the ice cream down delicately, then proceeded to attack the melting blob with the waffle pieces he tore apart so messily. "Firaga, don't play with your food."

Skittles had her nose literally buried in ice cream, and I shrunk into my seat, hoping to myself that the interviewers wouldn't see the sce-

"Oh, hello, Charis, I see the three of you are enjoying your food!" The male interviewer chortled, but the female looked as though she was going to throw up and cry over their total lack of etiquette.

"Um..." I glanced at Firaga and Skittles. Firaga had waffles sticking out of his mouth, and Skittles had her entire nose coated in white vanilla ice cream. They both nodded at the interviewers, then continued to eat. "They're...almost done."

At that, Firaga stole my wallet, took out 5 dollars and 90 cents, then went back to the store to buy more waffles.

"...or not." the male finished for me. "Well! Bye!"

When they walked off, I groaned as Firaga set down his tray of waffles. "With you guys around, I am _so _going into a junior college..." I mumbled sarcastically as I snatched a waffle from Firaga's hand and ripped it with my teeth.

* * *

_BarziniRicchan_

As I entered my home, I saw Ricchan sitting on his butler's back. "Dude, what are _you _doing here?" I yelled out in exasperation.

I _hated _Ricchan with a passion. I hated him so passionately, it's on the list of hobbies on Facebook – Hating Cousin Ricchan. It's like I'm Harry Potter hating Voldemort or Draco Malfoy..._combined_.

Just that he didn't kill my parents; they love him. He killed my morale.

"Hello, dearest cousin Charis, I'm here to...well, take some exams for fun. Your University of Singapore really _did _want me here...so I took their exam for fun. Gonna reject it though; I've being stalked by Cambridge and Oxford as we speak."

At that, two very noticeable limousines parked honked. Firaga growled.

"Oh, is that teensy wittle Firaga I see? The one that tried to eat Voldemort number...3?"

Voldemort was his Magikarp. He had numerous...Voldemorts, so the numbers did sort of matter. According to his butler (named Malfoy, creepily enough), he kept all his Voldemort in a luscious tank. When they were big and happy, they were killed for healthy Magikarp meat that Ricchan had all to himself.

Firaga suddenly looked hungry and hopeful.

"Gawd, whatever. Your Charmander is still as silly as ever. Come on, Potter, get me Voldemort Number Seventeen." Ricchan stood up and let his butler go.

"Yes, sir!" The butler stood and ran for the Magikarp.

"Wait. Wasn't your name Malfoy?" I asked.

"It's been Potter all along, Ms Charis."

Firaga looked deeply worried by that statement. "It's Malfoy, I swear!" I said aloud to Firaga.

Firaga widened his eyes and shook his head. He suddenly saw Barzini coming up to us, grabbed him, raped his bag, found _Harry Potter and The Order of the Ho-Oh_, then pointed to the word 'Weasley' in one of the pages.

"...WHAT?" I screamed.

Barzini was flailing his arms, since Firaga was holding Barzini's bag, and therefore Barzini himself, aloft in the air. "Hey! HEY! I'm here, you know?"

Ricchan snorted. "Who is that pathetic boy and why is he in existence?"

"I'm -gah!- BARZINI! My parents were in love and they had me, okay? LET ME GO, FIRAGA!" Barzini cried out, and Firaga gently set him down, waving at Noldor and Silvan as they finally crossed the street to their trainer.

No wonder I heard snorts from across the street...

"HERE HE IS, SIR RICCHAN THE GREAT ALMIGHTY BOY MASTER TRAINER!" _Potter_ announced as he brought Voldemort Number Seventeen. He had his lips puckered, and he was sitting on the royal cushion like he was the King of all Magikarps.

Though he _was _named after the Dark Lord...

Barzini and I exchanged mortified glances. Before I could comment, Mum came out. "Oh, hello, Charis. Let's go in, I have a surprise for youuuu!"

She bought me _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows_?

"Come on, come in, boys! I cooked a great feast today for our special guests!" Mum urged Barzini and Ricchan.

I walked in.

* * *

**I FINISHED OHMYGOODNESS**

**Anyway, if you want an OC in the story...you may have to wait. I realised I have too many OCS to pick. So...I'm just going by the see-which-OC-I-can-remember basis. Yep. **

**And...the interview thing is _almost _true. I DID go for the interview. But I didn't eat the waffle, or run up the hill. And NP...is obviously _not _Nacrene Polytechnic. **

**By the way, Barzini finished his MID YEARS. COME ON BARZINI, YOU HAVE A FEW MONTHS LEFT TO O LEVELS. He'll be doing a General Elections Singapore 2011 special, since we've been having all the hype about the elections in Singapore. I decided to give it a Pokemon twist, so we'll be writing about all the news about the general elections...with POKEMON. Naturally.**

**So sorry for the late update and the fail cliffhanger. I have to sleep soon and I NEED TO GET THIS PUBLISHED before anyone kills me. -looks at Kishon and Hannah-**

**Yep! I AM DONE! OH MAN! HAHAHAHAHA. Singapore elections 2011 and WHAT IS THAT MYSTERIOUS SURPRISE? Coming up...SOON. I promise. School already started and I haven't done much writing cause I've been trying to adjust to my school system.**

**:D See you guys. And I still accept OC reviews. BUT PLEASE TELL ME WHERE I CAN IMPROVE ON MY WRITING. Both content-wise and English-wise.**

**I have just become a Harry Potter person. I'M IN HUFFLEPUFF. I read the last two books. And watched all the movies. I consider that an achievement!**

**Au revoir! (YES I TAKE FRENCH NOW I'M GONNA SOUND SO SEXY...or not)**


	13. Random Rally Chapter: Barzini's POV

I straightened my tie and gulped nervously, clutching the empty pieces of paper in my hand. Of the entire Secondary Three cohort, they had to choose me. _Me_ and a few others to debate on politics. Against our _seniors_, of all people.

I'm not exactly complaining though, I am very much into politics and would dive head-first to debate about it, especially with regards to our ruling party.

Our politics in a nutshell- We have been under the rule of One Party (Oh my goodness... It sounds like the One Ring from Lord of the Rings) known as the People's Action Party since independence, which until 2011, would be 51 years. That's even longer than Robert Mugabe's Zanu Pf in Zimbabwe.

Well, I never supported the Party, especially that 27 year-old candidate, Tin Pei Ling with her Kate Spade bag. She even has a Delcatty who carries another smaller Kate Spade bag although she does not have a need for one.

My stance right now? Worker's Party all the way! The strongest opposition party in the world!

* * *

I watched as Charis delivered the most passionate part of her argument, talking about how standard of living has risen while we have been under the ruling party, and how Singapore is indeed a democracy in every respect.

"The Group Representative Constituency is meant to represent the minorities' interest within Singapore, as such I rest my case." Charis sat down, and smiled to herself.

_Oh Charis, smile for now. You shall feel my wrath later..._

Katie coughed and nudged me, "I don't know what to say; you go."

I mouthed, "What?" and she nodded.

"I'm not into politics, so I know nuts about them." Katie said apologetically, and then I turned to the only 16 year old in my group, Kimberly, who shook her head.

"Precious needs food, so..." Kimberly slipped her Pichu more chocolate from her bag – something which wasn't allowed in the hall. "Sorry I can't help..."

I stood up and picked up the mic, and glared at Charis, Benry and Aeleus. Charis was at the end; the first speaker actually, staring at her Charizard at the sidelines. Firaga had been digging his nose furiously throughout her entire speech.

I also realised that Aeleus and Benry were looking at Charis.

Somehow, the very famous triangle love relations are in the same team. How curious.

I cleared my throat; gave me an air of authority.

"First of all, I would like to quote a sage that no dynasties will last forever. Nor any governments. However, the People's Action Party, in an attempt, to make Singapore, a dynasty of its own age, created these Group Representative Constituencies, grouping all the areas which have shown strong support to the Opposition, into SMCs, Single Member Constituencies."

"Thus, if an SMC is won, there will be only 1 opposition member of Parliament, compared to the number ranging from four to six when the ruling party wins a Group Representative Constituency. This plan has allowed since independence, only two opposition members into Parliament, since 1991. Out of the 86 seats available."

Charis sat up straighter. I knew she was a total idiot at politics as well, though I had to admit she researched and read up rather well, from someone who said, and quoted, "I know so little about politics, I'd get the death sentence with no trial if not knowing politics is illegal."

"Furthermore, everytime an area shows anti-PAP sentiments, the boundaries of the GRCs and SMCs are withdrawn, to cut them out to an area where there is an overwhelming support of the ruling party. For example, Aljunied GRC can stretch from Eunos in the west, to parts Joo Chiat in the East, which has been considered a PAP stronghold, and the constant threat of Hougang, which is the fortress of the opposition, The Worker's Party."

I paused to allow the audience to take in everything I had just said. Then I slammed my fists on the table (ouch) and shouted, "This means that the PAP is cheating by legal means!"

Audible gasps.

"Thirdly, I would like to point out a mistake by the proposition. Charis had said that earlier that Singapore's standard of living, had risen. I would like to say that it is untrue."

I cast a sidelong look at Charis, who recoiled, horrified that I would order a direct attack on her.

"There was a report, recently, by the bank UPS, Union Pokémon of Switzerland, that Singapore's standard of living, with adjustments made to inflations, is actually as bad as that, of Russia, or the Commonwealth of Independent States. So, the proposition has presented a false case for the motion. Thank you." I said, and returned to my seat.

Charis, Benry and Aeleus were holding a hushed discussion as I sat back and closed my eyes.

Firaga lumbered over, much to the audience's amusement, and snorted loudly. "Shut _up_, Firaga!" Charis snapped. "You are _not _helping!"

Ah, Charis. You _fail_.

* * *

"Goodness! Are you done yet?" I shouted, and the gang, holding flags of the Worker's Party and their Pokémon carrying the signature Hammer of the Worker's Party. In the insignia of the Worker's Party, it is a hammer. So...

Charis's Firaga was holding a huge sign which had the picture of a cartoonish Charizard, and he was grinning, for reasons unknown. The strange thing was that he was handing out flyers. I took one and saw – he was running for Presidency, since it was a drawing of our current President, and an arrow pointing downwards from him to Firaga's face.

"So... The People Action Party's member graces us with her presence. Oh, what has the Worker's Party leader Low Thia Khiang done to you?" I said sarcastically.

Charis scowled and said, "I may have said pro-PAP stuff, but honestly, I'm just here cause Firaga wants to run for _Pokemon_ Presidency and decided to fly me along."

Firaga growled at her, and she rolled her eyes. "Oh, I meant just presidency. Firaga's interested in ruling the whole of Singapore. We don't even have a Pokemon President anyway."

At that, Firaga gave a vigorous nod.

"Whatever... Let's enter the stadium..." I said, and the entire group of students in Lanseal colours moved into the stadium, to show their support for the opposition in polling day.

"Wow... it's _really _crowded!" Markus said, being at his first-ever rally. Twigs and Swoosh were getting pretty excited to the point that the Swellow was repeatedly crashing into pillars, and the Grotle was just running around, looking at the party memorabilia. Flags, books, caps, umbrellas...

"This is definitely more than what the press reported..." Katie said, and I nodded enthusiastically.

"That is why it is called State Press!"

Charis, meanwhile, had her photography side whipped out in a flash. Armed with her neon orange camera, she darted into the crowd, with Skittles following eagerly. The Delcatty suddenly stopped at the edge of the field, her fur bristling.

"What?" I asked, approaching Skittles. Katie looked in disgust at the field – muddied.

"Um...at least Charis wore track shoes?" she remarked lightly, before grinning.

Markus was in his tourist behaviour, looking around and snapping photographs of bewildered supporters. Aeleus, Benry and Cole **(A/N: ? A-, B- and C-? ABC!) **were simply looking around, making sure their Pokemon didn't go wild.

Aeleus started to smile. "All the crazy anti-government people..."

Benry and Cole had completely different thoughts. "Look at those hot chicks there!" Cole was off first. Benry ran off to find Charis; I could've sworn he said something like "I remembered that really good pick-up line now!", before tripping on his Mightyena.

"_Rascal_!" he snapped. His Combusken, Romeo, picked him up and they both ran off into the crowd.

Aeleus sighed and shrugged. "I wonder what sort of pick-up lin it'll be..." he muttered, before he slipped away from us. His Mawile and Poliwhirl both shook their heads, then followed him.

Katie cocked her head to a side and smiled. "Those two guys...I mean, pick-up lines?"

Lila Nola Patch, who was behind us all this time, suddenly spoke. "The only thing they're gonna pick up is fresh skin burnt off from one overprotective Charizard," she remarked, and then she let out a sadistic grin as her words became truly realistic – Firaga had noticed Aeleus and Benry run off. He growled, shoved flyers into my hands, handed Katie his sign, then flew off to get a overhead view of the crowd.

Ri, her Lucario, mirrored his trainer's smile. Her Butterfree Cutie just looked very worried for the two boys.

"Um..." I slowly shifted away from Lila.

Just then, we heard Cole scream, and his Monferno Blaze laughing at him cheekily. The 'hot chicks' he had spoken off consisted of Daisy Hart, Markus' cousin Amber Smith and Kimberly Younan. Amber's Scyther, named Gladiator for very obvious reasons, was being restrained by Pita the Breloom. Bombi, Daisy's Buizel, was just laughing along with Blaze.

Kimberly was...just giggling.

"Hey, come on, Bombi, don't just laugh..." Daisy chided as she slowly approached Cole, who was squirming. I thought she was actually doing something _nice _until she said, "...spray him with a Water Gun!"

"Blaze, _help_ me!" Cole screamed in anguish as Bombi happily sprayed a fresh jet of water at Cole. Blaze simply shrugged, then high-fived Bombi as the Buizel merrily walked over to the Monferno.

Katie was looking at the stage. She shushed us up, hissing, "He's starting! The WP Chief is starting!"

True to her word, Low Thia Khiang was up on stage. He was the leader of WP, helming the A-team of his party to victory in the Aljunied GRC.

Oh, and Aljunied is a place in Singapore. You _did _know that, right?

We breathed every single word he said, and there were supporters clapping and cheering wildly as he ended. His Swampert was watching him calmly from behind.

All the candidates went up, said their piece, made the crowds go wild. It was long, but exciting. And I was tired.

* * *

_1am_

"I am... TIRED!" Jayden yawned, stretching herself. Since the announcement of the results, the PAP has won every seat, now we were down to the last 30 out of 87 seats in Parliament.

"Sigh... I am kind of sure that Hougang will remain under the Worker's Party... But the A-Team led by the leader of the Worker's Party attacking Aljunied GRC may be wiped out..." I said sadly, knowing how impossible it is to attack and fall a GRC.

The A-team of the opposition party – Worker's Party or WP, and a bunch of other parties with a B+-team. The Aljunied Group Representative Constituency (GRC) is said to be highly contested, since WP was sending out their A-team, and the PAP had Singapore's foreign minister heralding the team.

There was a GRC and a Single-Member Constituency (SMC) in Singapore. The only difference is that a GRC is contested by a group, and an SMC is contested by an individual.

Elena gave me a pat on the shoulder and said, "Don't be afraid... Their leader also told the supporters to expect an election with only one opposition candidate in parliament. Or even none."

All our Pokémon was asleep, for this had nothing much to do with them anyway. Firaga was the only one awake, because shortly after the rally ended, Mr Low's Swampert blasted water for fun, and it hit Firaga. The Charizard was so upset, he went on a mission to destroy the Swampert. It was on television, but just briefly.

I looked at the big television set propped up in the stadium, with the Returning Officer announcing the results over and over.

As more and more territories went back to the PAP, hope was slowly fading for the supporters. The other areas which the Worker's Party had contested in all lost by a narrow margin.

"200 votes in JOO CHIAT! ARGHHHHHHHH!" I let out an estranged roar which triggered a loud chorus of boos and jeers as the PAP candidate went on TV to thank his supporters.

Suddenly, the TV screen changed to that of the Returning Officer once more.

"For the Electorial division... Of Aljunied."

The whole stadium fell silent, and the Returning Officer continued his monotonous reading.

"Low Thia Khiang, Sylvia Lim, Pritam Singh, Chen Show Mao... The Worker's Party. 82,691 votes. Cynthia Phua, George Yeo..."

"Barzini?"

I turned around, and saw Charis offering me popcorn.

"No. Thank you." I turned back to face the Television.

"-Action Party. 60,876 votes."

My jaw fell open as the stadium erupted.

"We won..?"

"Electorial Division results of Hougang. Yaw Shin Leong, 67,890 votes. Desmund Choo, 6,848 votes."

The whole stadium went into an uproar, and for a moment, I saw the Worker's Party leader surrounded by his Squirtles and Wartortles.

All blue coloured, that's the colour of the flag of the Worker's Party.

"We won! We won!" I cheered, and threw my flag into the air.

Today will be a good day.

* * *

**This chapter is dedicated to all the Seth Rogens out there who think Singaporeans don't vote. D: And to those who are curious about Singapore's political system.**

**WE DO VOTE BTW.**


	14. Protection: Jayden's POV SPECIAL

Jayden threw herself down on her bed, furious. "Am I the only person who seriously doesn't give a crap about politics?" she asked to no one in particular. The Kirlia sitting on the edge sighed, and the Bulbasaur gave her no answer, because he was asleep. She looked down at him, and smiled. "Aw, Chikyu, you lucky boy."

She got up and went to the punchbag hanging by her wardrobe. She hit it systematically, without her gloves, and alarmed, the Kirlia used Psychic to carry her trainer away before she damaged her knuckles. Jayden struggled, and eventually gave in, because she knew herself she had specifically trained the Kirlia to do things like that. "Thanks, Seishin."

The young girl looked out of the window. It was four AM now, and it was still dark, but she knew that the dawn she loved so much would soon rise, and she actually wanted to watch it today, to give her some comfort.

_It was nearly six AM, and she could see the red glow from under the door-_

She shook her head violently. Now was not the time to think about that! Barzini had won his place, and he deserved it! They had to be celebrating, well, they were, but she had opted out, because she was 'exhausted', but in reality, she just wanted to get the hell away from the party.

"Everyone else is so lucky, they actually have a chance with boys," she muttered. "Especially Charis! Why hasn't she got a boyfriend yet...?"

_(Completely off subject, but y'know...)_

"Screw that!" she said to her thoughts.

_She could see that blood spreading. It was staining the floor-_

_(Sing it for the boys, sing it for the girls, every time that you lose it sing it for the world...)_

She was losing the battle, that was for sure. She was losing the battle with her sanity. She thought about the day she'd seen Celebi. "Were we really hallucinating? No, it must have been real, because of the photo! Goddammit, why don't I believe anything anymore?"

_(Because Mommy lied to me, Daddy lied too)_

_He'd said he was going out, but no, he'd killed himself in the bathroom when she was the tender age of eight-_

"Life. Life's a bitch, and we know it."

"Kir..." Seishin trailed off, unable to work out why her trainer was acting so strangely. Chikyu was dead to the world, blissfully oblivious. Jayden opened the small piece of paper in her pocket. She knew the strange song well, and despite it's sadisticness, she rather enjoyed listening to it and singing it. She looked at the first and second verse.

There once was a little dream.**  
**No one knows who had dreamt it.**  
**It was such a small dream.**  
**This made the little dream think,**  
**"I don't want to disappear."**  
**"How can I make people dream me?"**  
**The little dream thought, and**  
**At last had an idea.**  
**"I will make people come to me,**  
**And they will make my world."

The first ALICE was a gallant red one,**  
**Wielding a sword in hand in the wonderland.**  
**Slicing down everything that was in her way,**  
**She was followed by a bloody red path.  
This new ALICE deep in the woods,  
Was trapped as a wanted fugitive.  
If it weren't for the red path that she'd made,  
No one would think that she even existed.

"Possibly me..."

She was close to her Pokemon, that was for definite. She was close to her friends, that was possible. She loved them with all her heart, and there was a ferocious need for protection for them in her fiery heart.

_(If it wasn't for the bloody red path no one would think you existed)_

_(I didn't murder anyone I just fight I'm nothing like Team Rocket)_

She knew she was thinking nonsense, but she couldn't help it. Despite her strong cover, she actually had no self-confidence. She had no belief in herself, she didn't want to think she was actually good at something-she just liked to protect herself and friends. Protection was at the top of her priorities list.

The sun was rising. She watched the beautiful fiery ball light up the sky with a pink-ish glow, the edges all rippling. She suddenly noticed the presence of both of her Pokemon. They were both leaning on her arms. She cuddled them to her chest tightly.

"Another new day. We'll make today brilliant, 'specially for Mom and Dad, right? As we always do? Come on, let's get started."

The two Pokemon chirped their agreements enthusiastically. She smiled and planted a kiss on the top of their heads. She loved them, with all her heart. Her friends, and her non-existent family who were watching her from above.

Wisdom, justice, and love. The three things that could make everything better. How she loved those three things as well.

* * *

**Entirely written by Jayden herself ^_^ **

**So, if you want to write a POV of your own character here...well, just send me a PM or a review! :D  
**

**And why I don't have a boyfriend? Cause my crush likes someone else D: Barzini, I'M WORKING ON IT!**

**By the way, to any potential OC submitters, please do note that I have stopped contacting those who have Pokemon that have already appeared in the fanfic. For example, if you say you want a Charizard and a Grotle...Charis has a Charizard and Markus has a Grotle, so your OC is automatically out.**

**And for those who keep on asking "WHERES MY OC I CANT FIND HIM/HER OH PLEASE LET ME IN", well, please take a nice look at the review page. There's a long list of people waiting and I can only put in a small amount of OCs so the readers won't get confused. EVEN I GET CONFUSED! (like "Oh wait. Did _'s Pokemon evolve?") So...if you really _do _like the story, you'd just read it. Sorry D:**

**Also, no, if you're going to spam my account with PMs asking for your OC to appear, I _do _read them, and I _do _try to fit a lot of OCs in, but it doesn't guarantee your OC's appearance in the next chapter (which I'm working on)**


	15. Self: Kishon's POV SPECIAL

"Grawwwr!"

"Ruuuuu!"

I attempted to shield myself from the sheer force of the impact, to no avail. Before I got blown away, I saw a blue blur rushing towards a dark, ominous ball of energy – it managed to give me a chill down my spine, even through the aftershocks. I managed to catch my balance just before I landed face-first; instead, I barely managed to land on my feet, and I swear my sole melted as I skidded across the dirt floor. As the dust cleared, I could see Gairbith and Cerine both laying on the ground, smirking at each other. I couldn't help but smile to myself as they bowed to each other – just another representation of the friendship that we had forged between ourselves.

"Good job, guys. I believe you've mastered what we've started," I proclaimed, to receive cheerful smiles. Smiles that showed joy, satisfaction, and accomplishment. Just what his two buddies needed. A purpose in life.

_A…purpose in life?_

"Alright. C'mon. I've got a treat for you two."

I threw my bag on the floor again, before falling flat on the bed. I flipped around, and noticed the twilight slowly dawning upon the little city. "See that, guys? It's almost night time."

Gairbith and Cerine eyed me, still licking away at the ice-cream I'd bought them – their favourites: strawberry-flavoured for Cerine, and chocolate-chip for Gairbith.

"….the electoral results'll be starting soon…" I said with a distant gaze. It never interested me, but Charis demanded that I watch it today. Said something about how 'we need to be aware of the current happenings in Singapore' and some crap like that. Apparently, she'd also be keeping a close eye on me; if I weren't online somehow during the whole proceedings, she'd 'personally come down to my house and smash my face into the wall to wake me up'. Also, she'd send me a message on my phone every 5 minutes. Didn't that damn girl have anything better to do?

In short, I didn't have much of a choice. Soon enough, both of my Pokémon nudged me, with Cerine even hugging my arm. The look in their eyes told me, _We'll accompany you, no worries._

_Familiarity… Accompaniant…_

I gave in with a soft chuckle. "Hah…fine." At that point, I remembered what Mr Glenn had asked of us – the enigmatic Mewtwo.

I remembered the rumours well – the famed biological experiment of Team Rocket, a failed clone of Mew derived from part of her fur's DNA…it gained sentience, and erupted out of its enclosure, killing all of the scientists that were present at that time, and disappearing into the world's darkest regions…

Or so they went. However, there've been numerous sightings of a humanoid Pokémon that bent everything in its path to its will. In its wake, broken trees, shattered walls, paths through even mountains; thank Arceus he hadn't touched Everest yet.

Nevertheless, these rumours were never confirmed; most of them were Pokéhunters trying to claim the bounty on Mewtwo's head – a whopping $1 billion dollars – using cheap camera tricks with their own Pokémon. A shame; has the human race finally dipped to such lows just to earn monetary benefits? Revolting.

It was then that Cerine shook me out of my anti-humanity trance. "…sorry. I…don't know what came over me there." She only gave an understanding smile, before levitating my laptop to the desk in front of the TV. Gairbith kindly turned on the television and took a seat beside me and Cerine. The Ralts sat in my lap, her light frame giving me some strange form of comfort. Gairbith gave a jealous growl, but still sat there anyway. "Weird fellows," I muttered as I gave them both a pat on the head.

The clock read 7.30pm. The laptop's cooling fan hummed to life as I powered it up. And, as expected, Charis' first message came in.

Tonight was gonna be a looooong night.

_1am._

My phone rang again, but this time, instead of the short, quick vibrations, this was followed by more, longer ones. "A call? At this time?" I picked up the phone and place it to my ear, only to be met with loud cheering in the background. "Whaddya want? It's 1 fucking am in the morning."

"Sooooooooo, we're having a party right about now! Wanna come?" Charis exclaimed into the mic of her phone. I couldn't tell whether she was happy or sad. I went with both.

"Pass. I'm not interested in your little getaways."

"Y'suuuuuuure? It's at my house, and you know you wanna come and hang ouuuuuut!"

"I'm fucking sure."

"Kiara's here, y'know?"

"And that concerns me, how?"

"I don't know. Just get your butt over here!"

"I said pass. Now, shut up and stop pestering me!" I hurriedly replied, before ending the call.

_…friends…_

…company…

"Dammit!" I yelled in frustration, slamming my fist on the table so hard, my hand had actually began to bleed. "Why!"

Both my Pokémon instantly looked at me, with Cerine being exceptionally worried; she quickly placed her hands on my chest and looked up with beady eyes, but I couldn't see the sorrow behind them.

"That bitch…" I could barely mutter as the memories began flooding my mind. Everything from the first day till now… All I was was a puppet to those 'friends' in the past. I couldn't let my guard down. Not now. A life of solitude. That's all I needed. But…

"Cer. Gair. I'm a selfish prick, aren't I? In order to save my own skin, I have to drag you two with me wherever I go, to any quiet place I can find. I've denied you guys the chance to make any friends. There's no reason you guys have to suffer with me." I lowered my head down. I really had disappointed them. They were my friends, but I was keeping them all to myself. "I'm sorry. You have a horrible Trainer."

It was then that Gairbith abruptly covered my mouth with his hardened, yet soft paw. I glanced at him; all that was on his face was a smile, while I felt a Ralts' frame nuzzling my neck from beneath me. "Ruuu." Her horn was shining with a blinding aura; my emotions were being sensed by her. She'd tell Gairbith everything she sensed. That was how they understood me. That was how they were my closest friends.

"But guys…" I tried to protest to their ever-loving gestures, but was still met with Cerine's shy hug, and even Gairbith began to rest his head on my shoulder. I swear, those jets at the side of his head can barely be felt. Most people just don't understand how gentle these Land Sharks can be.

And before I knew it, Gairbith stood up, hoisted me and Cerine onto its back, to which I gave a loud yell. "Whoa, Gair, what're you…!"

He pointed to my phone, and at once I understood what he meant. However, I was still reluctant. Those weren't people I trusted, let alone wanted to get involved with. Sure, I could deal with Charis, but Barzini and the others… who were they to me? "But I…" The Gabite would hear none of it; he snatched my phone, turned off the TV, locked the door from outside, and sped off – all the way to Charis' apartment (which wasn't more than 3 minutes away when you're riding on a Gabite). Cerine seemed to enjoy the short ride, so I had no choice but to entertain her further: holding her up in the air as she liked.

The last time I'd been there was when I bothered to befriend Charis. She actually pulled me along with my other classmates for some badminton game, though half of the people there were people I resented. But what's done is done.

As we approached the door, Gairbith skidded to a halt, removing a square foot of grass patch. That's gonna be hell to replace, so…fuck it. I set Cerine down on the ground before hopping off, and knocked on the door. I couldn't hear anything; either everyone was dead, gone, or both.

The door opened slowly, as Charis stepped out, half-dazed. "Kishon! You finally….finally made it!" she exclaimed excitedly, however, she kept tipping from side to side. I managed to catch her before she lost her balance, but then I recognized the unmistakable scent of alcohol on her, though it was pretty faint …were they drinking? Christ, they were still 16…

"What the fuck happened here, Char?" I questioned as I stepped through the doorway, only to be greeted by people lying on the floor everywhere. The fragrant scent of alcohol drifted through the air, but of course, I wasn't quite in the mood for a drink.

"W-well, let's just say the party got a liiiiiittle out of hand…" she replied, as I set her down on the couch. Snacks laid all over the living room, with wrappers on the floor, cups on the chairs…and of course, half-dead people on the table. Wait, that didn't make any sense. "Soooooooo, my mom WILLINGLY put in 1% alcohol into our drinks…"

"….and you actually got wasted on that? Even the Pokémon?" I sighed, lowering my head and continuing to observe the mess. "My god, how weak are you idiots?" At the same time, I quickly scanned through the people who were knocked out. Aeleus, Kimberly, Katie, Barzini, Elena, Benry… Wait a sec. "Hey, Char."

"Hmmmm? Oh, if you're asking about Kiara, I maaaaay have fibbed a little."

"Where's Jayden? I'd think she was close with you guys."

"Oh. She left early. Said she was exhausted."

Jayden? Exhausted? That messed up little bundle of energy? Something was off. "Ah well. Can't be half-assed."

Charis sat up with a glimmer in her eyes. "Oh, ho! Not worried about her now, are ya?"

"Why the fuck would I care about you guys and your affairs? C'mon, let's get you to your room. I doubt that couch is pretty comfortable." I offered a hand to Charis, who clumsily grabbed it. Hoisting her onto my back, I carried her to one of the rooms, and laid her on the bed, before leaving the room. "Dumb bitch," I muttered under my breath, to no one in particular. Good thing everyone was knocked out; rumours could spread like wildfire in this group.

I could've sworn I heard Charis scream "I'm not a dumb b-word, you!" in retort, but when there was a very drunk Charizard trying to dance and sing (roar) to "My milkshake brings the boys to the yard" on the television, you wouldn't hear much.

I grabbed a cup from the kitchen, and poured myself some of the drink. I grabbed some ice to chill it; hopefully no one would actually catch me drinking this crap. But I needed a rest, and this was the easiest way to get it. Since everyone was here already, anyway… I traversed over the drunken bodies to the balcony, where Gairbith and Cerine waited. I downed the drink, and sat at the nearby chair. Cerine climbed onto my lap, where she cuddled up and nuzzled into my shirt, and Gairbith took his place by my side, where his head was right under my ear; I could comfortably lean on him, this way. Childish, immature….but comfortable, and needed. "Good night, Cerine, Gairbith."

"Ruu~"

"Gaar."

"Tomorrow…will be better…" I whispered to myself, as the spiked drink took its mild effect at last.

* * *

**I got excited at the prospect of making a drunken special. I'm working on it, but it'll be up soon to complement what Kishon did :D And the main chapter...um, it'll be up soon.**


	16. Drunk: Charis' POV SPECIAL

...What in the world happened?

I stared at Firaga. The Charizard had swallowed that evil concoction of a drop of hard alcohol. And his brain just...blew up metaphorically.

_My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard_

_Damn right, it's better than yours_

"...Firaga..." I managed weakly, as I stepped towards him, but then Barzini jumped into my way, pointed at me, and then screamed.

"YOU...SHALL NOT PASSSSSSS!"

I glared at Barzini. He just drank one cup and he decided to go all loopy on me. I rolled my eyes, shoved past him, and then tried to restrain my belly-dancing Charizard from embarrassing himself. Elena and Emerala were in front of him, filming his every move and laughing (or screaming; it's hard to tell)

Some of the braver Pokemon, like Elena's Prinplup Aquabub, had tried out the 1% alcohol mixture. They were just...blasting attacks in the house. In the very least humans realised that if they were to capture Pokemon, their building materials had to be Flamethrower-resistant and all. Right now, Aquabub was blasting Bubbles in the air. They weren't very painful to the touch, possibly because the drunken Prinplup couldn't be bothered with making it an offensive move.

Kimberly was doing a pole dance...on the table legs. It was kind of funny, watching her bump her head every once in a while. It wasn't exactly sexy, but it made the girls and guys around her scream.

I grabbed at Precious, Kimberly's Pichu, who seemed as though she was bent on suicide. The Pichu was leaning into the evil punch bowl of alcohol. "Hey! No drinking for you!" I snapped, and the Pichu bawled in response. "Skittles! Let the Pichu sleep!"

It was too late – Skittles was tap dancing on the table, with Kimberly semi-pole dancing below her. The Delcatty was _not _graceful.

I groaned. This was supposed to be a day of relaxation. One week from now, and the intensive mid-year examination revision would start. Then the mid-years themselves two weeks from now. I thought it'd be nice to have everyone come over and have fun, but Mum thought it'll be alright if we kids had a single drop of alcohol in our punch. At first I was resistant, so Mum provided a non-alcoholic punch bowl.

No one touched it except for me.

Aeleus and Benry staggered towards me. Benry grabbed my arm while Aeleus slung his arm over my shoulders. They were obviously drunk. "So! Charis! Pick..." Benry slurred, and then he rubbed at his eyes blearily.

I tried to support their weight. "Pick...what?"

Aeleus guffawed and grabbed my cheek. "You knowwwww," he drawled, "me and Benros here!"

"Heh, heh. I'm Benros..." Benry chuckled. Then before I could react, he let go of my arm and slumped against the wall. He curled up in a fetal position, still chuckling nonsensically to himself.

I sighed. "Aeleus, go catch that Lugia there."

To my surprise and horror, Aeleus suddenly assumed a complete look of seriousness. "Very well, m'lady..." With that, he stumbled across the room and threw himself on the couch, wiped out.

I looked at how Benry had sprawled himself on the floor, and shook my head. This was getting stupid.

Katie Galante was there with Aeleus now, sobbing her eyes out. Katie was just downing cup after cup, crying her heart out. Her Forretress, Grenade, had joined Firaga in his dance, but decided that Bruno Mars' Grenade would be a more suitable choice of music. I could hear Firaga roaring in horror at his milkshake song being stopped. Katie's Furret, Slinkie, was acting as Kimberly's scarf.

Aeleus looked like he was going to cry too. I walked over to them, thinking that finally, someone was sane, but then I heard Katie's story.

"And and, Axel just _died_! I mean... in front of _Sora_! And you _know _Sora is actually Roxas, and Roxas and Axel and Xion used to be..." she sniffed loudly to compose herself, "..._best friends_!"

Aeleus sniffed. "That is...such a _horrible tragedy_!"

"I _know_!"

When Aeleus saw me, he burst out crying, much to my horror. "Oh why, Charis, _why _did Roxas _die_?" he cried.

"Aeleus, you're going to wake up tomorrow and say 'Shit' because once you remember what you're doing..." I mumbled, shaking my head sadly.

Katie just continued to wail. Just then, Firaga switched the music back to the milkshake song. He started to shake his butt wildly. Aeleus' Poliwhirl and Mawile joined in the fun, along with Aquabub, Silvan and Noldor. It was a funny sight to behold; a Charizard, a Poliwhirl, a Mawile, a Prinplup, a Dragonair and a Salamence all side by side, trying to look as remotely sexy as possible.

I groaned. "Here, need a drink?" Aeleus handed me his cup of water. I took it gratefully and swallowed.

The next thing I knew, I had called up Kishon. My head was spinning and by the time he arrived, everyone had effectively passed out...except for Firaga, still intent on getting his groove right. I shoved Aeleus away from my shoulder and stumbled to the door. "Stupid Aeleus, spiking my...water..." I mumbled, feeling extremely disoriented.

I pulled open the door and nearly fell on the little Ralts Cerine. Kishon looked appalled at my state. "Kishon! You finally..." I gasped for breath, "finally made it!"

"What the fuck happened here, Char?" he demanded, and I let him dump me on the couch. I didn't bother smacking him to tell him about bad vulgarities.

"W-well, let's just say the party got a liiiiiittle out of hand…" I nervously admitted, looking at what used to be my living room. "Soooooooo, my mom WILLINGLY put in 1% alcohol into our drinks…"

Kishon mumbled some stuff, and they included 'weak', 'idiots', 'wasted' and well, I was slowly starting to nod off in front of him.

"...Hey Char."

I was going to tell him that I wasn't a Charmander, and I'd never want to be related to Firaga in any way except for Trainer and Pokemon, but I remembered something else.

"Hmmmm? Oh, if you're asking about Kiara, I maaaaay have fibbed a little."

"Where's Jayden? I'd think she was close with you guys."

"Oh. She left early. Said she was exhausted."

Kishon looked doubtful, then he shrugged. "Ah well. Can't be half-assed."

I sat up and wriggled my eyebrows. "Oh, ho! Not worried about her now, are ya?"

Kishon offered me a hand, and said something about my room. Oh, good. I waved bye to Gairbith, the amused Gabite trying to avoid Firaga's swishing tail.

Then I was drifting into this wonderful sleep. I heard Kishon insult me and I screamed back at him, but aside from that...

* * *

I stumbled out of my room, and nearly had to throw myself down the stairs. "Ughh..." I mumbled. I entered the living room, which was being brutally arranged back into order by my father's Snorlax. Everyone was still sleeping, except for Kishon, Cerine and Gabite, trying not to step on anyone. They had to tiptoe pass a snoring Salamence and a half-groaning Charizard who looked determined to dance even in his sleep. "Wait, didn't you head home?"

Kishon looked at the couch he slept on. "It looked comfy."

I stared at him for a while, then turned to look at the mess. Benry was still at the staircase landing, in his fetal position. His loving Mightyena, Rascal, was on top of Benry, in a peaceful slumber.

I slowly sidestepped him and headed to the kitchen. "I'm getting breakfast," I announced, and then before Kishon could say anything, I glared and added, "and _you're _eating it."

Kishon looked like he was going to throw up at the mere thought of my breakfast.

I walked into the kitchen and saw Kimberly, Skittles, Precious and Hope all curled up on the table, fast asleep. Romeo, the main spectator, was under the table, the Combusken muttering something under his breath once in a while. The Pokemon were mostly in here.

Katie was also sound asleep right in front of the refridgerator. I didn't know how; I was quite sure the last time I saw her, she was asleep next to Aeleus, mumbling about Kingdom Hearts and every single death that occurred that was related to the Organization XIII. I flipped her over, and saw that she had my last bag of chips in her hands.

"That's my sour cream and onion chips...!" I whined to myself, before dragging her beside the Combusken. Then I yanked open the refridgerator. "Let's see...um, okay, here's some chocolate biscuits."

I tossed Gairbith the whole container because the Gabite was closest to me. He caught it easily and was about to set it on the table when he realised the people on top of it. The Gabite glanced around, confused for a moment, but then Kishon stepped in, took a look around, and sat down on the kitchen floor. "Garrr," Garbith said in appreciation and sat down as well.

I found the pizza piece from a few days ago and took out a porcelain plate. I dumped the pizza there and heated it up. I sat down next to Gairbith and Cerine. "Eat up!" I said, smiling.

Kishon smirked and chewed at the biscuit. "This is going to turn out to be an interesting day..." he remarked as he saw the Pokemon all slowly begin to stir from their sleep.

* * *

**Okay, I have just started on Pokemon White. I played through Pokemon Black twice with Oshawott, then Tepig. I'm still unsure of how to continue if I included the fifth generation of Pokemon here...so,**

**NO FIFTH GEN POKEMON WILL BE IN THIS FANFIC...FOR NOW.**

**I've been away because of school. Duh. I'm not exactly caught up with homework, but I've been trying to get used to the free time school has dumped on me. So I've been visiting the library pretty often, getting all my CCAs straightened out once and for all, trying to get into a habit of checking my homework, and all the other stuff. I know school officially started in April for me. That's not including my January-to-March stint studying actual modules there. But I find myself a little...out of place. **

**Coupled with a whole bunch of crap I'm getting from all sorts of things...well, my writing is going to change. I just wrote a twist on a story for a competition here, and it's awfully dark, in my standards. I'm probably going to publish the longer version on Fictionpress soon, and then I'll have to shorten it for the competition (a 1000-word limit; IT'S COMPLETELY UNFAIR!), so I'll settle that before finishing the much-delayed, non-special main chapter of this story. I still have all my other fanfics to update, especially _The Love Critic _from the Kingdom Hearts fandom. Plus a oneshot for the Phoenix Wright fandom I'm writing. It's mostly just a way for me to let off steam, but I'm gonna publish it anyway. As my friend (Kishon, it's our _Master_) put it, my fanfics really _do _reflect my life. I don't know about you guys, but that's what I realised!**

**Anyway, if you want to submit an OC, go ahead. If you want to do a POV for your OC, then send it! You can find my email through my profile, and while you're there...my own personal blog is there! o_o**


	17. Expedition: Charis' POV

"Charrrrrr...!"

"Not now, Firaga, I'm packing for tomorrow! Ugh, only _one _backpack; seriously?"

It's been a week since Zak entered my house, completely uninvited, annoucing his new role as adjunct lecturer in Lanseal Pokemon Academy.

* * *

_"You have got to be kidding me. A Pokemon Champion?" I asked incredulously. Even Barzini looked as though he was about to say something very very important, but he was holding it back out of respect._

_"Yes. Problem?" Zak asked, and his Sceptile glared at us. Firaga and I held our steely gazes, but Barzini shrunk back for a split second._

_"You ran away when Team Rocket attacked, so how can we even let you TEACH?" Barzini burst out. It was as though someone suggested to him that he vote for PAP instead of the opposition for the next General Election he could vote in._

_Zak didn't say much, for it took a death glare from my mum to silence us for dinner._

* * *

_My _school.

And a week since it's been announced that the Secondary Four cohort would be leaving to the neighbouring Pulau Ubin for a two-week adventure, as a lead-up for our final legendary assignment.

Pulau Ubin is a weekend getaway for Singaporeans, with sun, sand and sea, plus with no concrete in sight unlike Singapore itself. But the one thing that draws everyone to it – it was officially announced as a Pokemon Region in 2007.

Pokemon Regions are exactly like Kanto, Johto and what not in the Pokemon games. But they're set in real life, and yes, if you run fast enough like a ninja in front of a lazy tourist they wouldn't ask for a battle. Wild Pokemon ready to jump, crazy trigger-happy tourists with Pokemon...an adventure to die for.

...at least, I _hope_ I don't die there. It'd be quite sad.

So we had to navigate our way through the whole region, passing villages that would serve as checkpoints, fighting off Pokemon, controlling our budget, earning money from battling...it would be a thrill. A $200 budget, a real Pokemon adventure...everything!

I could feel Firaga's excited breathing when it was announced in the auditorium. I wasn't very sure how, considering I was in the front row, and Firaga was at the back, outside the auditorium with a solid window. But Lila's Lucario Ri must've read and translated everything on the slides, because when the students emerged, a Pokemon stampede nearly occured, something the Principal wasn't very pleased about (naturally)

Firaga was hyped up about it all week. He ate his vegetables after Mum told him that he'd be able to fight off Pokemon better with muscles (though I think she just made him watch _Popeye _ad his spinach obsession) and didn't try to eat Lord Voldemort (you could imagine the happy Magikarp flailing about without fearing for his life), so it was all good.

Skittles was just worried she'd get dirty, or hungry. She made sure I packed enough chocolate for two years and made me bring her extra brush. It wasn't so bad; every night when she was taking her long baths I snuck out to put back the chocolates, so in the end I was left with a packet of M&Ms to last us.

Firaga sighed resolutely, then lumbered down the stairs for his food. "Skittles, go eat, I'll be down soon, okay? We're having Lord Voldemort, I believe."

Skittles perked up. She detested the Magikarp because he received royal treatment that Skittles could only dream of. "Nya!" she cried out in glee, then bounded down the stairs.

I breathed in, finally zipping up my backpack. Tomorrow.

* * *

"Yo, Charis! Morning, Jayden!"

"...Barzini?...wait, is that _chocolate_ you're holding? _No_, Skittles, we're stocking up."

"Nya..."

Barzini gave me his most affectionate gesture ever – patting me reassuringly on the shoulder, as though he was sending me off to my grave. "Take it as a good luck gift from Katie and I. We got one for you too, Jayden!"

Jayden lit up. "Chocolate!" Seishin gave a little Kirlia dance, and Chikyu extended his vines to receive the gift, ignoring Jayden's frown.

"You guys will be absolutely fine!" Barzini said, grinning. His Salamence and Dragonair nodded as well. Noldor flapped his wings and fluttered over to Firaga to give the Charizard a slap on the back with his tail, and Silvan simply sat next to Barzini, looking as majestic as ever. "Bring back the ultimate prize for us, will ya?"

"...The ultimate prize?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Charis, weren't you listening? You must've been taking down notes!" Jayden grinned. "A _Master Ball_!"

A Master Ball...only a hundred of them around in the world. It was like a branded good, just that you don't buy it. You _earn _it.

"First person to reach gets the Master Ball! Exciting, huh?" We turned to see Aeleus walking up to us, with a purple backpack that matched his hair, strangely enough. He stood between Jayden and I. "Ready for this, partners?"

"The Jayden Alliance at your service, Barzini!"

Jayden, Aeleus and I decided to travel together for the two-week journey. It was advisable, but not compulsory, to go in a group, or even a pair. I was sitting between Jayden and Aeleus, so the three of us struck a deal.

But...The Jayden Alliance?

"Why can't it be The Aeleus Alliance?"

"Nah, then it'll be...T.A.A instead of T.J.A. Too weird."

Barzini rolled his eyes. "Okay, gotta get to class now. Hey, don't die on me, okay, seniors?"

I grunted, and Firaga shot him a death glare. "No way we'd die. We'll win this. Get some experience along the way, plus try out all of Aeleus' new TMs!"

When we made the pact, we split up to do some work. Aeleus was to handle TM training, updating our Pokemon movesets. Jayden made sure we all packed enough food, handling finances, and I would read up on what we would face, then transmit the information to Aeleus. We had to co-train the Pokemon to make them strong enough against the wild Pokemon we were set against.

So...Jayden, Aeleus, myself. Seishin the Kirlia, Chikyu the Ivysaur, Minerva the Mawile, Swirls the Poliwhirl, Skittles the Delcatty and Firaga the Charizard, up against two weeks of fights and hardships.

Bring it on.

* * *

"Refer to your maps, please. Now, we've named the villages in the island of Pulau Ubin after prominent places and people in Singapore. Right now, we're in Boat Quay, and I guess that's because we're here in the midst of boats! HAH-HAH-HAH!" Mr William Overholt tried to lighten the suddenly sullen mood. His Gallade, Masamune resisted the urge to slap his forehead at his trainer's strange humour.

All we had in this fake Boat Quay...was a Pokemon Centre, a bicycle rental shop and a small run-down eatery. We could take a risk and travel to the next Pokemon Centre, or stay here. It was starting to get dark, so it could get...dangerous.

"Okay, guys! Now, there are 10 villages you have to pass here. At each village, collect your checkpoint marker. Once you have 10 of the unique markers...well, make it to the neighbouring island marked "Sinnoh" right here and congratulations!"

"Um...sir?" Xenny raised her hand, pushing up her glasses. "Are you sure? There's...a small sea between the two islands..."

Benjamin nodded as he studied his own map. "Yeah! So..."

Mr Overholt scoffed. "Come on, surely you can take a little water, right? Geez, kids these days..."

Firaga flapped his wings, grinning like Hermoine Granger being granted the permission to answer Severus Snape's Potions question.

"Okay...now, have fun, guys! Oh, and take your markers for Boat Quay."

I took four of them and handed Aeleus and Jayden one each. I slipped the other two into my pocket, just in case. We watched as students ran for the Pokemon Centre. They were probably going to rest up for the night there in the rooms. Some were renting bicycles and others were forming a queue at the eatery, starved.

Benjamin and Xenny walked up to the three of us. "Hey, are you guys going to...where is this, ah, Little India now?" Xenny asked, pointing to the next village.

Aeleus and I exchanged thoughtful glances but Jayden jumped in and nodded eagerly. "Heck yeah! You guys wanna tag along for this stretch?"

Benjamin and Xenny looked at each other, then smiled at us. "Sure!"

Just like that, we added Gally the Gallade, Chicky the Chikorita, Shaily the Typlosion, and Sneaky the Pikachu, and two other people to our group.

"Okay, I guess we should start walking..."

* * *

"Firaga, can your tail burn brighter, _please_?" Jayden whined. I couldn't see Jayden, but it sounded like her.

Firaga snorted, and then there was a sweeping noise, followed by a thud, and Jayden yelping in pain.

"Firaga..."

"We've been walking in complete darkness for..." and I almost leapt at Aeleus' watch lighting up dangerously close to my face, "half an hour."

"...that sucks. Alright, attendance-taking now...Seishin, Chikyu?"

A Kirlia and an Ivysaur answered.

"Benjamin, Xenny?"

"Here!"

"Shaily, Sneaky, Gally, Chicky?"

Three cries from a Typlosion, a Pikachu and a Gallade...but no Chikorita.

"Skittles?" I called out.

No answer.

Aeleus called out for Swirls and Minerva, with both Pokemon answering. My heart nearly stopped.

"_Skittles_, this is _not _funny. Get out here, _now_. Or no chocolates for the week." I snapped, my voice shaking.

"...Chicky...?" Benjamin's worried voice called out hesitantly.

Just then, the Pokemon all perked up, high on alert. "U-Um, what's happening?" I couldn't help but ask.

Jayden scoffed. "Since when did murderers tell you what's going to happen?"

"...that wasn't very helpful for poor Charis' heart, Jayden," Aeleus retorted back calmly.

"Well, I-" Jayden was cut off by her Ivysaur slowly, but firmly, slapping a vine on her mouth, silencing her. Firaga and Shaily both circled us protectively, glaring into the darkness.

Xenny rubbed at her arms. "...why did it suddenly get cold again?" she whispered.

We all realised that we were indeed cold. I was shivering, in fact, but I hadn't noticed it. "It...got c-colder..." I mumbled in agreement.

Aeleus examined our surroundings closely. Benjamin was looking out as well, the dim light from Shaily and Firaga reflecting off his glasses. "You know...I saw a yellow leer just now..."

A yellow leer...?

"A Gengar?" Xenny piqued in. She consulted her Pokemon Guidebook, with Shaily peering over to provide light, and out of curiosity. "When a Gengar is near, it absorbs the heat from all the surroundings..."

Suddenly, it struck me. I spun and saw my shadow. It was still...but I couldn't take any risks. "Firaga, fly up, hurry! It's hiding in our shadows! Xenny, return Shaily!"

Firaga flew up, and the light from his tail dissipated as he hovered above the forest, watching for any signs of immediate danger. Shaily leapt into her Pokeball hurriedly, and soon we were surrounded only by our very weak shadows.

"...What now?" Jayden asked, gulping.

"Attack our shadows; the only way to take it out," Aeleus replied. "Gengars hide in the shadows, and when they strike..."

"...they strike to kill." I finished, and we had a brief moment of fear wash past us. We all eyed our shadows carefully for a short while.

"Do you think that Chicky and Skittles...?" I couldn't help but think the worst.

"I doubt so. They wouldn't die so easily. Besides, Skittles is a Normal type. And they're both pretty-"

Everyone stopped to stare at me, transfixed in a mix of horror and incredulity. I stared back. "What, a ghost is behind me?"

Suddenly, a sharp chill ran up my spine and a series of low deep cackles burst out from behind me, dangerously close to me. I screamed out of complete fright, jumping and spinning around to see not one, but _ten _pairs of garish yellow eyes staring back at me, hungry and obviously in a mood to kill.

"FIRAGA USE FLAMETHROWER HURRY!" I screamed in absolute horror, and my Charizard swooped down from the skies, a deep ferocious roar that escaped from him. He launched a strong Flamethrower that immediately warmed all of us up, a far cry from the too-cold surroundings that the ten Gengars supplied.

Then our shadows morphed into more and more Gengars, with Haunters and Gastlys flying out from their hiding places in the shadows of the dense forest. "Firaga, focus!" I snapped, and Firaga tried not to look behind at how the others were holding up, focusing instead on the Gengars that were fast approaching us.

Xenny sent out Shaily and shouted, "Shaily, use Flamethrower! Sneaky, use Thunderbolt! Dissipate the Pokemon!"

The Pikachu leapt off Xenny's shoulders and in mid-air, delivered a solid Thunderbolt at two Gastlys trying to use Hypnosis. Shaily emerged from her Pokeball and launched a tirade of Flamethrowers, decapitating the Gastlys, Haunters and Gengars in sight (if only they _had _some form of a head)

I turned to Jayden to see how she was holding up and almost got killed by a Gengar's beckoning Shadow Claw when a sharp gusty wind of hail and ice blew forward, freezing the Gengar effectively. Just ahead of me was Skittles, with Chicky riding on her back. "Skittles!" I cried out.

"Nyahhh!" Skittles sounded almost relieved to see me, and Chicky...she was in a complete mess. They were both covered in dirt, and both were panting heavily.

I picked my darling up and hugged her, then hugged Chicky in relief, much to Chicky's enjoyment. "Thank goodness you're safe!"

Skittles gave me a single lick, then she stood next to Firaga, who paused his attacking frenzy to greet his partner. Then she started a rain of Shadow Balls and Ice Beams at the Gengars.

"Chicky!" Benjamin bounded over and took the Chikorita in his arms. The Chikorita snuggled up, and then she cocked her head towards a fierce battle between Gally and the Haunters, the Gallade using his mind and destroying the Pokemon with Psychic. "Okay, Chicky, finish them all up with Razor Leaf!"

"Chi-_ko_!"

Aeleus and Jayden were fighting the Pokemon off quite well. Swirls and Minerva were having a blast, shooting a Water Pulse and Minerva using Crunch. Chikyu was using Magical Leaf at the Haunters and Seishin was fighting alongside Gally, the Kirlia fighting with Psychic as well, next to her counterpart Gallade.

"Okay, Charis, try a Blast Burn!" Aeleus called out, but Firaga overhead him before I could even say something in response. He reared his head backwards and roared with all his might, summoning a fiery explosion in all directions that razed the Ghost Pokemon to the ground, sending the defeated ones scrambling back into the forest. We all stopped to block ourselves from the extreme heat that ensued from such a decidedly brilliant attack, and when it all ended, Firaga was all burned out, lying on the ground in exhaustion.

"That. Was. _Awesome_." Jayden exclaimed.

"...No kidding." I exhaled out.

"Char." Firaga replied, as though to say "duh".

* * *

By midnight, we stumbled out of the dark forest, half-dead and ready for a good sleep. Firaga wanted a piggy-back ride with all of us supporting him as some form of misguided thanks, but when he tried to bug Seishin, she delivered a Psychic that threw him down on the ground spitefully.

"Ugh...we're here, aren't we? I smell curry, for some reason." Aeleus rubbed his eyes and stifled a yawn.

"This _is _Little India, what do you expect?" I almost screamed when a small, familiar, yet unwanted voice chirped in. We all turned to meet the short blonde bespectacled genius.

"...Ray, what are you doing behind me all of a sudden?" I couldn't help but ask.

Ray gestured to an abandoned poster-sized painting. Benjamin, who was nearest to it, picked it up and spread it out for all of us to see. "It's a tree, see? Anna did it."

"Anna?" Xenny asked.

"Yep, my Smeargle! Hmm, but usually she's following me around like a stalker...oh well. Natalya – that's my Shuppet, of course – she's around here somewhere. Anyway, I've been using the tree portrait to follow you guys around!" Ray bounced about, stroking Firaga's tail obsessively. "Boy, was this Charizard crazy strong just now..._hoooooo_..."

"...um...can you stop touching Firaga...? He's probably harbouring murderous thoughts about you right now..." I couldn't help but say, watching Firaga's eyes narrow. The poor Charizard was exhausted, especially after a massive Blast Burn, and because we were saving up on supplies, he only managed to beg and eat a piece of chocolate from Aeleus and a packet of chips from Benjamin. Starved was an understatement when it came to Firaga.

"Oh, right right, of course, I should always examine the other parts of this great creature we call a Charizard!" Ray enthused, nodding wildly as though I had made some great Nobel Prize-worthy statement that had enlightened him greatly. He was about to move over to Firaga's large rotund belly for a close inspection when Jayden briskly grabbed him and held him aloft by his collar.

"Hey, come on, Jayden, leave the poor kid alone..." Xenny said, and she looked like a hurt mother staring at her child's little boo-boo.

"He's been at it for ages now, trying to get a sneak peek into Charis' Pokemon!" Jayden retorted back, extending her arm fully so she wouldn't get hit by the small boy's frantic struggles. "Anyway, we're almost there, let's just drop him off at some weird place and go get some sleep, okay?"

We all walked into 'Little India', which was a quaint little village with a few attap houses dotted about, and a Pokemon Centre that seemed rather small. It was rather quiet, unlike Little India back in Singapore itself. It would usually be packed to the brim with late-night shoppers and hungry people walking over for a quick bite at a local prata shop, or even to shop at the overcrowded, hazardous Mustafa Centre. Even at late hours, it would still be packed with honking cars, the smell of food, the pushing and shoving...

"Hi, you guys are pretty late, huh?" Kishon looked smug, with his Gabite, Gairbith by his side. Cerine, his Ralts, was twirling about pleasantly on a small platform. "By the way, congrats. You guys are second before me."

"...Kishon, you walked off without even taking the marker." I fumbled in my pocket a little and handed him the extra marker I procured - an ice cream stick with the Lanseal seal on it.

"...Oh." Kishon examined the ice cream stick, then smiled slightly. "It's a cheap ice cream; that's for sure..."

"Why am I not surprised?" I replied back, watching him slip the ice cream stick in his pocket loosely. Cerine scurried over to examine the new item.

"Anyway, how's the journey so far? Gair and Cer had a pretty fun time defeating all those Wild Pokemon. Even though there was one too many Haunters..." Kishon shook his head, with Gairbith groaning a little, exasperated by the experience.

"Funny, I nearly got killed by ten Gengars." I remarked, grinning at Kishon's mild shock. Judging from his half-indifference to my near-death experience, he probably thought I would've escaped death more than once in a few hours.

"We got attacked by a whole bunch of them. Crazy lot!" Jayden added, smacking her forehead.

"I know, right? So I used my Haunter Repellant Spray!" Ray reached into his loose jean pocket and fished out a suspicious-looking spray can. "I invented one! Wanna have one? It's 3.99, but Charis, if you let me touch Fira-"

"No."

"Aw."

"Okay, fine. Besides Charis' near-death experience, how was the journey?" Kishon asked again, looking at all of us lazily. He reminded me of the Cheshire Persian, for some reason, in _Alice in Wonderland_.

"Not too bad, I guess. Um, do you guys wanna eat something? I'm gonna go buy us some food. Whatever they're selling, that is." Benjamin patted his tummy, walking away from us as we quickly shouted out our orders. Firaga's loud, hungry whine-growl was enough for him to know how many portions he needed to get. Xenny, and their four Pokemon, followed her.

"We'll go get the rooms, then!" Jayden smiled and ran off, dragging Ray with her. Their Pokemon followed as well. "Kishon, you follow us! I am officially adding you to The Jayden Alliance! I don't care what you say!"

"...fine." He followed her anyway.

"I'll sit here and wait for food," I announced, sitting down on the barren land in the middle of the small village, with Skittles, Swirls and Minerva following my example swiftly. Firaga was already lying flat on the ground, half-asleep, though I could tell that he was eyeing Benjamin and Xenny, trying to eavesdrop on the orders. I glanced at Aeleus, who just stood there, looking around the place.

"Our first day, and you nearly got murdered by ten Gengars..." Aeleus mumbled, smiling. "Wonder what's gonna happen later on?"

"Nah, it wouldn't be so bad. I mean, this _is _a school trip, after all. They can't just dump us in some danger zone, right?" I noticed Firaga lying near my head, so I rested my head on his side, elicting a low grunt from him. "But...there was something weird about how the Gengars were acting."

"...So you noticed? Even with a whole army of Ghost Pokemon, they usually wouldn't try to kill a whole group of Pokemon and trainers. It'd be too risky for them." Firaga nodded briefly at what I was saying.

"Yeah...which leads us to the next question." Aeleus stood up, looking up at the stars in the skies with a grave look on his face.

"Why?"

* * *

**After four specials...I'm back. With a completely new, entirely unneeded twist. A two-week journey into Pulau Ubin! **

**Fact Not Needed - I've never been to Pulau Ubin before. I only watched it on the kids' channel last time, when they aired _Ubin Boy_, which was basically city boy meets kampong boy and Pulau Ubin. **

**So yeah, I probably need to do some research on that...and the villages are fictional. Do not go into Singapore, and ask for Little India in Pulau Ubin. The taxi driver will scoff. He'll probably dump you in the _real _Little India. **

**Hmm, aside from that...I'm accepting specials, and OC-wise...it _will _take some time. I have a long list of OCs I need to write down (on paper, no less) so it'll take a while for your OC to actually appear in the fanfic. Sorry! **

**For the special chapters...you can always write one and send me what you plan to write, and I'll probably publish it under this story. Unedited and with all credit to you. Drop a PM if you wanna submit one! (:**

**Review~**


	18. Pain: Charis' POV

We woke up...an hour later.

"Seishin, kill off all the baby Yanmas. _Now_." Jayden's eerie voice boomed through the little room we had to ourselves.

"Kirrr!" the Pokemon replied, then attacked the room with Shock Wave.

...the room included myself and Aeleus, along with five other Pokemon.

"EEYAHHHHH!" I yelped, now fully awake after accidentally brushing a wall with too much static. I looked up, wide-eyed at Jayden. "What the heck is _that_?"

"Baby micro Yanmas biting me!" she cried out in exasperation. "Ugh, they itch so bad!"

I couldn't help but give a relieved smile. My pyjamas were long-sleeved so it provided a shelter of sorts against the pesky little micro Yanmas that suck our blood and cause large red welts.

"Let's get out of here, please! We had dinner-breakfast at two and slept at four, so we can leave now!" Jayden cried out, looking expectantly at me. "There HAS to be a nicer place somewhere on this island, right?"

"I guess so. Hey, Skittles, wake Aeleus up, will you?" I gestured to the mass of purple hair beneath my bed on the lower bunk, sound asleep. The Delcatty gave me a sly grin, winked at Swirls and Minerva, then slipped to the lower bunk. The Poliwhirl and Mawile hurried over to their trainer's bed, watching with eager anticipation.

Skittles pulled off her task with aplomb. She latched herself at the bottom of my upper bunk, then delivered a painful Slam right at the poor boy, who jerked up and hit his head by accident. His lips curled into a snarl and glared at Jayden, who had her hands on her hips.

"You woke me up."

"Not exactly; you see, Skittles was the one who-"

"...and why?"

"Oh, because we're leaving. I hate this place; too many micro Yanmas, and the bed's horrid." Jayden started to pack in her stuff.

"So says the person who had the first bath," I remarked.

"And the person who chose her bed while Charis ran out looking for Kishon and while I was bathing..." Aeleus added, sighing.

Jayden was upset and Aeleus was looking quite despondent and weary, so I quickly interjected. "Hey, you know what? Let's just get out of here and we can take a nice long pit stop at the fourth village, okay?" I proposed to our small group.

Kishon had mysteriously disappeared overnight, with a note stuck on my back (don't ask how; I was nearly dead tired) thanking me for the night, the snack bar he helped himself to from my rucksack and for the offer to join our team. Jayden was all bent on killing him for rejecting "that sweet deal we offered him" but after her bath, she went to sleep without even speaking.

Then Benjamin and Xenny thanked us for helping them get to this place, and they'd be staying a little longer to stock up before leaving, so that was sort of an implication that they weren't going to join us.

Which brought us back to the Three Musketeers again.

Aeleus sighed and stretched. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Okay, Jayden, you got your wish."

"Yay!"

* * *

By the time we walked out of the Pokemon Centre, it was 6AM in the morning. The sky was still dim, but we could see the sun staining the edges of the broad skies. Daylight would come soon and we were a peaceful, happy trio for a while, with Firaga in a much better state than yesterday (after all, he was apparently treated by a much prettier nurse than the resident nurse back in Lanseal) and all of the Pokemon rather well-rested.

We walked along a quiet, forest path, with the sporadic Linoone or Zigzagoon bursting out in our way. We easily triumphed them, to the extent that we didn't even notice the Pokemon, because most of our Pokemon were all raring to fight, and when you have a Poliwhirl, a Mawile, a Kirlia, an Ivysaur, and one mighty Charizard competing against each other to fight wild Pokemon...

"Wait, what just happened?" Jayden couldn't help but ask as a Flamethrower-Bubblebeam conbination shot past us, followed by a few groans.

"Something happened?" was Aeleus' helpful response.

"Hey, is that a wild Pokemon up in front there? It can't be a...Camerupt, right? It doesn't look like it..." Jayden pointed at the three 'humps' up ahead.

I squinted a little. "No...maybe it's a human?"

"No way, _one _human isn't like that. Hey, was that Swirls running towards the big fat strange Camerupt just now?" Jayden sounded deeply conflicted about the Camerupt-human hybrid silhouette she though we were seeing.

"...I think Charis meant _three _humans," Aeleus drawled, yawning a little. When we heard a happy roar from Firaga, and one of the 'humps' falling, we turned to each other.

"...That...wasn't a Pokemon, was it..."

Nothing else needed to be said as the three of us sprinted towards the hapless people.

* * *

"Ugh, my hair!" the female tourist cried out, trying to put her soaking wet hair back in her straw hat. Looking very apologetic was Swirls, trying to lend a hand, but getting pushed away violently each time.

Aeleus called out for Swirls, and the Poliwhirl narrowed his eyes sadly. "Aw, come on, Swirls, it's not your fault. We _all _thought it was a Camerupt..."

I didn't...

"_YOU THREE_. Your Pokemon caused all this _right_?" she snapped angrily.

"...Um...yes?" I resisted the urge to correct her Singlish.

"You kids ah...terrible _lah_, these days! Here I am ah, trying to enjoy my holiday with my boyfriend, then you have to go attack my maid for _what _siah?" the woman cried out, and we saw Firaga stealing the _Milo_ tin her maid was carrying in her bag. When he caught us staring, he gave a lame attempt at rousing the maid by nudging her.

Her boyfriend wasn't much kinder. "Horrible _man_, you all. Me and my darling Meiling want to go out for morning stroll, _also cannot_! Somemore your stupid Charizard go steal our _Milo_! How we gonna drink, hu- HEY, you stupid Pokemon, don't eat my _Milo_!"

Firaga was swallowing the whole tin of dry _Milo _powder. Before Meiling's boyfriend could snatch it, he tossed it over to Skittles, who licked the whole tin clean, then ran off to hide behind my legs.

"See lah! Now our _Milo _also cannot make already! Okay, whatever lah." The boyfriend was about to let us off when the horrid woman smacked her boyfriend's arm.

"Oi, cannot just like that lah, Gary!" She grabbed Aeleus' arm, much to his horror (if only I had a camera to immortalize his face...) "You three, battle us!"

"Wait, how can three-?"

"Aiyo, see lah, pay so much for education and don't even know the three-versus-three battling meh? Horrible lah. But then again, like that we can win already lorh." Meiling was getting on my nerves, and Firaga, even with the brown _Milo _powder smeared across his snout, looked menacing enough to murder Meiling, chew off her head, and scatter her remains in every ocean of the world. "We win, you pay half of your money _horh_."

Can I personally scream at her about her Singlish?

"I've read about them!" Jayden looked excited. "They've recently added the new system into actual competitive battling. In fact, there's a Pokemon Three-on-Three Battling Championships ongoing somewhere in the world! I'm hoping that they show it in Singapore..._hoping_..."

The couple hoisted up their barely-conscious maid. "Oi, Leticia, wake up _lah_, show them the new Pokemon we got for you!"

Meiling was first. "Goooooo, Cera! My beautiful baby Serperior!"

OH. MY. ARCEUS. NO. WAY. THEY. COULD. HAVE. GOTTEN. THE. BRAND. NEW. POKEMON. ALREADY. MY. FRAGILE. HEART. TOO. MU-

"Let's fight, Emboar!"

HEART. GOING. TO. BURST.

Leticia stirred. "Urgh...um, oh right right, Samurai Boy, let's go!" the maid called out. She smiled. "My boy-boy is a Samurott."

I. JUST. DIED.

No way. "You guys...got the newly discovered Pokemon _already_?" I screamed out in absolute mortification. A Serperior, an Emboar, _and _a Samurott, right there in front of me.

"Yeah, of course lah! Money is not a problem!" Gary grinned.

"...then why are you so upset over a _Milo _tin?" Aeleus blurted out. Before they could murder us with their bare hands, we quickly sent out our own Pokemon. "Swirls, let's go!"

"Chikyu!"

"Firaga!"

Fire, Water and Grass. Elements clashing against each other. If I were a little older I probably would've died of a heart attack over so many things.

"Cera, go and attack with Leaf Storm!"

...we are completely unequipped for this.

The Serperior let out a fine roar (I tried very hard not to admire her) and soon, leaves were flying towards all of us. Jayden and I screamed and as Aeleus whipped out an old umbrella he had, all of us (minus our opponents) hid behind. "Firaga, block them out with Fire Spin!"

Firaga let out a roar (for once I could be proud that Firaga roared louder than that Cera...) and the leaves soon turned into fine ashes that fluttered to the ground. He then wriggled his eyebrows at Cera, who scoffed and gave a grunt that indicated disgust.

To be fair, I would do the same, too.

"Okay! Boy-boy, use Hydro Pump!"

Jayden saw the sun rise up slowly, too slowly and she couldn't help but scowl. "Chikyu, Magical Leaf!"

I acted quickly. "Firaga, fly up with Chikyu!"

"You read my mind, guys, or maybe this is just luck...Swirls, use Ice Beam! Freeze all of them in place!"

Firaga flew up, just as a large cannon of speeding water crashed into a tree. He tossed Chikyu up, so he could send down a wave of leaves that aimed directly at Samurott. Then, Firaga swooped down, just in time to pick Chikyu back safely. And as the Samurott instinctively tried to dodge the accurate Magical Leaf, none of them failed to remember the Ice Beam headed their way. Emboar was hit by a small bit of Chikyu's Magical Leaf, and had no time to fight off the Ice Beam that struck beneath their feet, holding them soundly in place.

"Ugh, no way! Emboar, burn off that stupid ice before Cera gets hurt by Ice Beam!"

"Not on our watch, sadly. Firaga, use Wing Attack!"

"Swirls, aim Ice Beam at that Serperior!"

Emboar managed to free himself, and quickly broke off the ice from Cera. As Ice Beam struck, Emboar launched an instinctive Flamethrower against it, dispelling off Swirls' attack. But then both Pokemon forgot the large Charizard and his glowing wings, ready to take them both down. He struck them both down, then flew back up again.

"I forgot to mention I managed to teach Firaga Sky Attack; that's probably what he wants you to tell him to do now." Aeleus smiled at me. Then he turned back to Swirls. "Deal a Water Pulse at Emboar!"

Without any guidance from her employers, Leticia was left alone to battle. "Boy-boy, go help out Sir and Ma'am's Pokemon! Hurry!"

"Come on, don't run away!" Jayden grinned. "Chikyu, Vine Whip!"

"Emboar, help out Leticia...Flamethrower!" Emboar launched a heavy Flamethrower that struck Chikyu square in the face, knocking him out effectively. Emboar grinned and grunted happily to himself for a split second before he was promptly blasted with a Water Pulse from Swirls.

Now the great Fire Pig Pokemon was panting heavily, so Charis called out for Firaga to deal their trump card of the moment. "Firaga, Sky Attack on Cera!" I already knew that as a gentleman, Emboar would be moved to block Cera. Killing two Spearows with one stone, as they say.

"No way man, Emboar, deal with the pesky Pokemon with a Focus Punch."

I gulped a little. Sky Attack and Focus Punch...both took an unconfirmed amount of time before the attack could truly be dealt. Emboar was much stronger than our Pokemon, explaining why he could still stand after a Wing Attack and a Water Pulse, two strong moves that were effective against his typing. And if Focus Punch was a success...

"Swirls, Water Pulse!"

"Ah. The sun is up..." Jayden mumbled quietly, as Chikyu slowly recovered from the powerful Flamethrower with the sunlight. The Pokemon was already officially out of the battle, and he looked dispirited at being knocked out by a single attack.

"Water Pulse? Pft! Cera, Solarbeam!"

"Razor Shell, Boy-Boy!"

Aeleus gulped and shrank back. "Swirls, try to dodge-"

Swirls narrowly avoided the great beam of light from Cera, and he launched himself upwards more before Samurott's Razor Shell connected with him. He dealt a feisty Thunderpunch at the back of Boy-Boy's head, throwing the Water Pokemon off-guard, before releasing another strong Water Pulse at Emboar, who lost his concentration just as Firaga swooped down from the skies, knocking both Pokemon out sitmultaneously with his wings.

"Heck yes!" the three of us cheered. Then we looked at Samurott.

"Aiyo, see lah, our Pokemon are all defeated already...oi, Leticia, you better win horh! If not no leave for you ah, Leticia!" her employer snarled nastily.

"O-Oh, okay, me and Boy-boy will do good!" Leticia turned to us with a new-found fury. "Let's do this ah, Boy-Boy!"

"We'll do this too, Swirls...and Firaga." Aeleus smiled at me. "Shall we?"

I was about to say yes, when Boy-Boy suddenly jumped up as Leticia commanded, "Boy-boy, use Dragon Tail!"

..._What?_

Firstly, it was quite interesting to know that a Samurott had a tail; it was something I completely didn't look into when they first announced the discovered Pokemon. And then..._Dragon Tail_?

New moves are named when a Pokemon manages to deliver an original, note-worthy attack. All names have to be functional, so if I ever discover a new move, it wouldn't be called Charis Attack for obvious reasons. It would depend entirely on the move itself, though the person's name, along with the Pokemon's name, would be recorded in a legendary book of official Pokemon moves. Basically, make Firaga do something cool and weird and we'd go down in history (book)

But..._Dragon Tail_? Sounded familiar, but...

_Wait. _

_Isn't that the... _"Holy Arceus of Mew; Firaga, shield yourself with Iron Tail, hurry! Swirls, hide!" I shouted quickly, but Samurott's tail collided with Swirls, knocking him back right into his Pokeball, which was latched on Aeleus' belt. Then, the tail swished down, directly at Minerva, who looked profoundly disturbed (probably sleeping) at the sudden intrusion. She glared at the naive-looking Samurott, who was still smiling stupidly, and strutted onto the battle field, ready to attack the Pokemon who disturbed her sleep.

"Um...okay...you tried, I guess..." Aeleus seemed half-shocked, half-awed by the brand new attack. Firaga scoffed and put his tail to good use, switching form defensive to offensive. He brought down his tail onto Boy-boy's back.

"Ahhh! Boy-boy, you okay? Leticia will make for you _Milo _later, okay? Don't pain ah, Boy-boy...!" Leticia cried out in anguish.

"Hey, go fight and stop whining!" Gary snapped. Leticia quickly complied.

"Sorry sir, sorry ma'am...Leticia will do her best..." she bowed her head to them several times before she turned to us.

Firaga was trying not to laugh. Leticia looked at him with mortification. "Aiyo, naughty boy ah, you!"

The Charizard burst out laughing at that. Leticia fumed. "Horrible boy! Come, Boy-boy, use Surf!"

...oh shit.

Firaga lazily gestured for Minerva to scamper on his back, and as the Samurott summoned a wave that crashed down just in front of us, the Charizard flapped his wings and flew up in the air. He yawned a little.

Aeleus smiled. Looking at the bright sun, he called out, "Minerva, use a Solarbeam from Firaga's back!"

"Huh?" was all Leticia could say, as Minerva wasted no time in shooting down several Solarbeams at once, taking full advantage of the bright Singapore sun to destroy the final opponent.

Meiling narrowed her eyes at us as she checked her Chanel bag for her wallet. Handing us three crisp $50 notes, she smacked Aeleus' arm as some form of revenge, then walked off. We could hear her berating poor Leticia for losing the battle, even as they disappeared from our sight.

"...Um...okay..." Aeleus remarked as I kept the money in my wallet. "That was..."

"If the government sees this, would they count it as maid abuse?" I asked. When no one replied, I sighed. "Guess not."

Jayden sighed, as she nursed Chikyu back to health, spraying his burn wounds with a Super Potion we bought. "I can't believe I got knocked out so early..."

Aeleus frowned, then bent down to touch Jayden's shoulder as though to comfort her. "Hey, come on, it's just the official Day One of our trip here. There'll be lots more to-"

"Solarbeam is supposed to be Chikyu's star move..." Jayden narrowed her eyes at Aeleus, as I suddenly got the implication. Solarbeam was the final move used by Minerva. "And we couldn't even use it...got beat by a non-Grass type Pokemon to it."

"Jayden, don't be so-"

She stood up, swiping his hand away. "It's okay. Just...let me heal Chikyu."

Chikyu looked hurt that he had inadvertently caused his trainer's sullen mood. He gave out an apologetic cry. "Saur..."

"It's not your fault, Chikyu." Jayden looked away from her Pokemon. "It's just..." she paused for a moment, then shrugged impatiently and rummaged her backpack for something else.

Her actions spoke louder than words.

"Saurrrrr..." Now Chikyu was officially wounded much more, deep down. He tried to stay as still as possible, trying not to let Jayden get upset anymore.

"Really, Chikyu, it's not your fault!" Jayden insisted vehemently, as she rubbed the Burn Heal ointment on his forehead. "It isn't!"

"...saur..." Chikyu didn't seem too sure about that.

"Jayden, I think it'd be better...if you treat him and we walk on." I was done checking Firaga for wounds. I pulled out a piece of tissue from my bag and wiped Firaga's snout clean of _Milo _powder. "Maybe the next village is near."

"It'd better be. We're low on supplies." Jayden answered coldly. She picked up her bag, watching Chikyu slowly stand up to walk, before cocking her head towards where we were headed. "Come on guys, let's go."

Aeleus was done checking his Pokemon as well, so we started to walk in a silence that was far too loud for my liking. I almost felt relieved every time a wild Pokemon challenged us to a fight, but for some reason, the atmosphere turned even more deadly, even as Chikyu repeatedly tried to show that he was strong now.

No more losing for him.

But Jayden seemed to take it out on Aeleus and Minerva instead. It continued all the way until we reached our third village – Changi.

It seemed more modern than the other villages that we've been to, mostly because of the tourists milling about. The Pokemon Centre looked newly refurbished, and it even smelled the part. As we walked into the pristine doors of the place, a fresh wave of new assailed our nostrils.

There weren't many people checking in for a room, but there was a female police officer healing up her Pokemon. As she stretched and flexed her arms, Jayden gave a low whistle at her gloves – fighting gloves.

The woman turned around and eyed us curiously. Finally, she spoke. "Ah, _bonjour_! Your shirt..._oui_, I've seen it before! You must be from Singapore!"

"...Um...yes." I responded. "We're...in an island belonging to Singapore, actually."

"Ah, of course, of course, no, I'm mistaken!" she smiled at us. " A familiar school crest, strong Pokemon...you must be a Lanseal!"

"...Lanseal Pokemon Academy students, yes."

"Ah, pleased to meet you. I've been looking at my cousin's blog nowadays, checking up on what he's been up to, then I realised that he's in Singapore! Ah, _enchant__é_, my name is Elle Renoire!"

"Um...hi." I looked to Aeleus, looking a little distant, and Jayden, who went back to her cold self. "I'm Charis, this is Jayden and that's Aeleus. These are our Pokemon."

"Very nice, indeed! Right, _qing wen_ _ni men jin tian you kan dao _Team Rocket?" she asked in Chinese. _May I ask if you have seen Team Rocket today?_

"No- I mean, _mei you. Dan shi, ru guo wo men kan dao, wo men yi ding hui gao su ni._" I replied back. _No. But if we see them we would definitely tell you._

"Ah, _tres bien!_" Elle did a little fist-pump. "I've been scouring this part of Singapore. Apparently there's been sightings of Team Rocket activity going on, and even the Pokemon around here have been acting up. We've deployed Pokemon Rangers and all, but it seems like there's no sign here. So the Civil Defence department decided to stop the dispatching of rangers."

"That's sad. But then again, we need to protect the mainland first, right?" Aeleus spoke up, smiling.

"_Oui_. It is of utmost importance that we do so. But firstly, it is my job to stay here and help out in whatever way I can." A nurse came over to hand her 6 Pokeballs. "Ah. Great, my Pokemon are healed. Perfect."

The nurse opened the glass door and her six Pokemon walked out. A Luxray was first, with a Squirtle on his back, beaming at Elle. Then a Noctowl flew out, and perched herself by the counter, looking slightly irritated. Finally, a Zangoose, Monferno and a Frosslass walked out, looking quite refreshed. The Frosslass in particular, for she swooped down from the ceiling and greeted the Pokemon...with a very, _very _scary face.

"Do not mind Xue; she is not very good with strangers." Elle smiled at us. "Oh yes, I have completely forgotten something. I have also been tasked to give you these markers."

She waved it at us, and Jayden stepped forward to take it. But then Elle held them behind her back, shaking her head with an easygoing grin. "It comes with a price." She scanned the three of us and pursed her lips. "For three markers...one double battle will do fine. I'll see you on the outskirts of this village, by the river you have to cross to your next destination. I'll be training with my Monferno and Zangoose there, so you should be able to find me. See you all there, _zai jian_!"

With that, she walked off, leaving us in the Pokemon Centre, slightly flabbergasted at the turn of events. "Well...who's fighting?" Aeleus queried.

"I will." It was Jayden who spoke this time. "...I'll get us the markers."

We silently handed over our Pokeballs and Jayden excused herself while we waited for the Pokemon to return from healing. Aeleus and I just lounged about, with him glancing around the place and enquiring about the map that the school gave us, and with me reading the newspapers to read about the newest president and other stuff.

He sat down next to me finally, after thanking the nurse for her help. "Tough day for all of us, huh?" he remarked, plopping back in the couch I was on.

"Yeah..." I thought back about the crazy triple battle, and how my emotions over the brand new Pokemon I had just witnessed almost muddled my thoughts. If it wasn't for Firaga's steely determination, and blazing eyes that screamed, "_Shout a darn command and be QUICK about it!_" I probably would've fangirl-ed over the Pokemon instead of focusing on the battle.

And a crazy one too; one that involved a _Milo_ tin...

Then there was Jayden, who turned cold because I think she felt inferior and clammed up. Again, we all didn't blame Chikyu for it; it was a Flamethrower from an experienced Emboar, but Jayden was crushed that she couldn't help at all. And she felt completely helpless during the battle; when Minerva performed that Solarbeam, she felt even worse because it could've been her Chikyu and herself winning the battle for us.

...I understood. I felt that way once in Primary One. Firaga and I were completely helpless. He was broken and so was I. We both went home with sullen moods, and not even my mum's cooking and coaxing could save our moods. I talked to him for a very long time that night. Ever since then, Firaga grew more competitive and strived to fight. And as for me...I did my assessments and tried to excel.

Then when Ricchan dropped by once in a while, I always felt inferior. Firaga always held his ground. He knew that if he continued to fight at his very best, he'd soon best Ricchan's Pokemon. And he believed in me to do the same.

"Hey, come on now, don't get all moody on me!" Aeleus joked, wrapping a casual arm around me. I flinched a little at the contact and he rested his arm back on the couch behind me.

I stood up and stretched. "I'm going to get some berries. See what I can find. Mind if you help collect the Pokemon for us?"

Aeleus frowned a bit. "Will it be dangerous? With Team Rocket around and all. And you don't even have a Pokemon."

"It'll be alright. I'll go on the outskirts but I'll stay away from the forest. It'll be all fine and I'll come back before dark. I don't exactly want-" and I shivered at the memory, "-Gengars trying to kill me."

The boy flopped back on the couch, yawning. "If you say so. See you later, then!"

I nodded and walked out, shielding my eyes from the sun. It was hot, and the lack of forest cover in the village didn't help at all. Neither did humidity help, as I took a stroll through the path towards our next destination, looking out for any berry bush. I spotted a whole cluster of them, then started to pick meticulously, making sure I left no ripe berries. Pecha berries, Oran berries, Cheri berries...

"Hera..." a Pokemon mumbled and I turned around to see a young Heracross looking at me curiously. He had latched himself on the tree just next to me, and he didn't seem very frightened or provoked. He scanned me for any weapons (or Pokeballs) and then his eyes fell on the berries in my bag.

"Um...you hungry?" I asked hesitantly, looking through my bag for berries.

"Heracross!" the Pokemon nodded eagerly. He jumped down from his tree, and I noticed the tree sap slowly oozing out from his bite mark. He held out his...hands towards me and I dropped a generous helping of berries for him to feast on.

He sat down right next to me, obviously very glad that the creature before him (me) had bestowed upon him delicious berries. As he chomped down the berries, he watched me continue to pick more and more.

The Heracross had a strange way of eating. He sniffed at the berry first, then ate only certain parts of it. At first, I observed to see if he liked any particular part of the berry, but there seemed to be no coherent pattern. He just ate a few bites of a certain part, then tossed the remains (which were a lot)

I pulled out a notebook and wrote down, at the top, "List of Things to Ask Teachers". I wrote down "Gengar attack" and then I started jotting down the Heracross' behaviour when I heard a sharp voice.

"Mr. Grunt, just hand over the markers. I'm sick of all these and I'm supposed to help aid in the mission here!" a feisty girl snapped. Then a moment of silence before she called out, "Rage, what are you _doing_, poking your nose in the forest?"

I drew in a sharp intake of breath. "Hide!" I hissed to the Heracross, who looked puzzled at first, but then followed my lead, clambering up the tree to hide in the thick cover of leaves above. "You could've brought me up with you, you know..."

"Hera," the Pokemon replied cheekily.

I watched as Rage, the large Charizard poke his snout through the trees. He spotted a lone Pecha berry near me, and lumbered in to take it. I edged away from Rage, moving around the tree, when suddenly a pair of arms grabbed me from above and yanked me up, causing me to gasp instinctively.

I shut my eyes as a few branches scratched at me, then finally opened them as the friendly Heracross welcomed me into his leaf-infested home. "Um, thanks."

"Hera. Crossss."

I sat there on the thick branch he put me on for a while, then slowly moved towards the source of the hushed conversation between Mr. Grunt and Sabrina.

"Rage, stop that. Shade, restrain him, please." Sabrina called out. "That darn Mr. Grunt doesn't even want to know, putting me on this stupid student expedition. Dear Arceus, what have I done exactly?"

"Leave the Rocket work to us, Monez." Two different footsteps were heard, and I saw a mass of purple.

"Shut up Galante. And you! Rivera, was it? Your brother's here, isn't he?"

Aeleus Rivera...and Reggie Rivera, I presumed.

I edged closer to the end, then quietly pushed away the branches to take a peek at them. It was...Katie's brother, Aeleus' brother...and Sabrina Monez.

I gave a small sigh. Who would've known she was a Rocket all along? A Rocket in Lanseal...I've always liked to assume that terrorism only happened in National Day Parades; in the performance segment when Singapore would throw out every single cool bit of technology they had from the SAF and all that to show off to Singaporeans. And I've always liked to assume that terrorism was, aside from the occasional war, almost non-existent, especially in our country. When Aeleus and Katie told us that they had a Rocket brother...I didn't quite believe it.

But now, watching them like that, I suddenly felt fearful. I turned to the Heracross I had befriended and he was nonchalantly eating up the berries I gave him. He offered me a Pecha berry and I took it graciously, before popping it into my mouth, chewing as softly as possible as I tried to eavesdrop.

"So how's the plan going? Everything alright?"

"Yeah. We managed to inject most of the berries last week, so the ripe ones are ready. We're expecting a whole slew of symptoms from both Pokemon and humans. Food poisoning. We're still trying to hack into the reservoirs though; now _that _can kill."

I felt a sick feeling in my gut. I had unwittingly fed a Heracross poisoned berries, and it was all my fault. Heracross looked confused as I frowned at him. "Heracross, I'm so sorry...! I shouldn't have been so kind, ugh, what did my mum tell me about helping wild Pokemon...!" I cried out apologetically, and the Heracross didn't know what exactly I was going on about, but he tried to comfort me by crawling over to the branch that I was on to pat my shoulder.

And much to our absolute horror, the branch gave way.

"EEK!" I screamed as the branch crashed and the berries Heracross was holding rained all over us, thudding on my head. The three Rockets stared at me.

"What, an angel falling out of the sky?" James Galante asked sarcastically, as Sabrina, Reggie and himself readied their Pokemon. "You're a pretty one, I give you that, but sorry, we'll probably have to ensure your silence..."

"_Hera_!" We all turned around, just as Heracross grabbed my arms again and flew off, towards Changi's Pokemon Centre, where no doubt Aeleus and all the other Pokemon would be waiting.

"Not so fast, Charis!" Sabrina snapped, and I turned to see all three Rockets on Rage, looking quite displeased. "Rage, use Flamethrower!"

"Dodge, Heracross!" I shouted out, and in the very least the Pokemon obliged and flew up higher. I felt the scorching heat from the flamethrower on my shoes and to my displeasure I realised my soles had melted slightly.

"Another one!" she commanded, and Heracross swerved to the right, as I swung myself, narrowly avoiding roasting my legs and possibly burning it.

Just then, Sabrina sent out her Houndoom, Shade, who leapt at us and grabbed my leg mercilessly, determined to bring us down. His sharp tail flicked at my other leg and I flinched at the pain. "Get off me, you stupid Houndoom!" I roared.

This only angered the Houndoom further. (Why am I not surprised?) He snarled at me, then decided to kill both of us by readying an Overheat.

"Argh! Heracross, go run away! Drop me. _NOW_! I shouted, and the Heracross glared at me.

Overheat was soon blasted, and it hit Heracross' arms and my arms as well. My head was saved as I jerked my head away. Mum is _not _going to be happy if I ever decide to tell her this story. "Okay, _Shade_, get _off _me!"

"Hera..." Overheat was taking its toll, even though it was just on the arms. With a reluctant and apologetic cry, he released me, unable to hold on any further.

This is it. I'm going to die. Goodbye, Firaga. I should've gave you all my fries that one time at McDonalds. Goodbye, Skittles. Maybe I really should've hooked you up with a single, handomse four-legged Pokemon like what my mum's been insisting. Goodbye, family, I've always loved you. Goodbye, Barzini, you were always the best junior I've ever met. Goodbye, Jayden, maybe if I signed up for martial arts lessons like what you've been insisting on, maybe I wouldn't die a blob of unhappy fats and maybe I would've survived with some mean kick or something. Goodbye, Kishon, I've always regarded you as one of my closest friends even though you keep stealing my snacks and my homework to copy. Goodbye- wait, how am I able to think up all this while falling? Wow, must be a looong way, huh?

...Oh, is that the ground?

Before I could smash into the ground, someone ran beneath me as some sacrificial pillow. A mass of purple, to be more specific.

"NYAH!" Skittles hissed as I fell flat on the ground. I felt my nose start to bleed and tears starting to form. It would've been a horrible, deadly impact, and if it wasn't for my favourite ball of fluff...

I let myself be babied into more tears and snivelling by Aeleus because he was just rubbing my back and wincing at the scratches I've gotten and saying weird stuff like "Awww you poor thing it's gonna be okay I'll be here and you'll be fine" and all that but it was all very comforting and emotional.

Well, until Firaga lumbered over to see the commotion and stared at his broken heap of a trainer. And then saw the perpetrator Houndoom looking longingly at Skittles, who was still lapping at my wounds (a disgusting fascination, but a comforting one)

Poor Shade.

Within seconds, Firaga had attacked with three destructive Iron Tails that were meant to kill. Looking at his crushed opponent with absolute satisfaction, he finally turned to the larger Charizard, who looked just as upset as his trainer, and the two Rockets behind her.

"Rage, use Thunderpunch!"

The big Charizard lunged at the little Charizard (Firaga), looking pretty menacing. In a second, Firaga dodged and retaliated with a Thunderpunch back at the big Charizard's snout.

Shade had managed to limp his way back to Sabrina, who sprayed it with a Full Restore. He was up again, and was about to attack Firaga when Skittles jumped in, stopping him. Shade..._blushed _a little, then he looked hurt as Skittles snarled at him.

Meanwhile, I was watching a fierce battle between Big Charizard and Little Charizard. Firaga didn't have the size and the power that Big Charizard Rage had, but because he was slightly smaller, Firaga could dodge and fly about as a distraction, and he was much faster with his attacks. In that way, both Charizards were almost equally matched.

Then Reggie, Aeleus' brother, sent out a Politoed and a Mawile, that he launched at Firaga. Aeleus stepped forward. "Not so fast, _brother_."

Reggie gave him a condescending glare. "Don't meddle with my affairs."

"If by 'affairs', you meddle with my friend...I'll fight for whoever I want. Even if my opponent..." and he released Swirls and Minerva from their Pokeballs, "...is my own brother."

Reggie narrowed his eyes. "Don't do this, _little brother_."

"Then stop the fighting and apologise to her!" Aeleus retorted. "She nearly died today!"

...oh yeah. Please don't let near-death experiences be a running gag for me...

"She shouldn't have eavesdropped on our conversation, then. Politoed, Mawile, I am counting on you two. Destroy his Pokemon."

James Galante laughed. "We'll destroy all of them easy. Sphinx, Pompei, Cosmos; you heard me! Let the will of God guide you to victory!"

A Luxio, Torkoal and Castform appeared before us, ready for battle. They approached Aeleus quickly, and Swirls had to shoot them with Water Gun to protect his trainer. But then he took a painful blow with Politoed's Bounce attack.

Then the Torkoal moved quickly towards me, ready to explode with an Eruption. She was charging at me and because I was still in a complete, disoriented mess, I just sat there, too frozen by what had just transpired to do anything.

"_HERA!_" A Pokemon swooped in front of me and delivered a hasty Close Combat that sent the Torkoal skidding backwards. Pompei held her ground, and she looked more furious than before.

"Heracross!" I shouted. "You're alright!"

"Cross!" He replied gleefully and nodded. I looked at his arms and realised they were fully healed. As if to show how he recovered, he jumped a little and from beneath his wings, a few Sitrus berries rolled out. He took my bag and shoved them in, before getting ready to fight.

Heracross took a hit from Sphinx; the Luxio launched a sneaky Thunderbolt. Then he quickly dodged a Flamethrower from Cosmos, before getting hit again by Pompei's flamethrower. He rolled a little and slammed into me, as Sphinx approached us at lightning speed for a Spark attack. Again, I had to brace myself, but Lady Luck (Jirachi, in other words) decided to _finally _shine on me.

"Gair, use Dragon Rush!" Kishon burst out of nowhere (he and I looked at each other for a moment and he instantly knew that my first thought was 'ninja') and summoned his brand new Garchomp for battle. "And by the way, Charis...you're in a mess."

"...really." I shot back sarcastically. "You read my mind so well."

He smirked and calmly cocked his head at Cerine, the Ralts immediately knowing what was expected of her. She shivered a little as she concocted a powerful Psychic at Cosmos. The wild Heracross friend of mine took over and defeated the Castform with a Brick Break. Then the three Pokemon turned to Sphinx and Pompei.

James snarled but no one seemed to bother. Kishon smirked and stifled a laugh; quite a brave act. Aeleus was eeriely calm, watching his brother Reggie carefully. "Come on, Gair," Kishon called out, "finish up and maybe we'll get ahead of this gang here!"

The Garchomp launched himself at lightning speed towards Sphinx and clawed at the Luxio furiously with a tirade of Dragon Claws that knocked the Pokemon out before we could even blink. Then he turned to Pompei and slashed at her, before allowing the wild Heracross to swoop over for a Seismic Toss.

Swirls was going for a Thunderpunch that connected with the Politoed's chin. Politoed retaliated with a Psychic that threw the Poliwhirl back. Undeterred, Swirls jumped back on his feet immediately, and watched as the Politoed launched back up for a Bounce attack.

Meanwhile, Mawile and Minerva were fighting and snarling at each other. Flamethrower from Reggie's unnamed Mawile met Minerva's fierce Fire Blast but a Water Pulse from a very quick-thinking Swirls destroyed Mawile. As water collided and fought against fire valiantly, the pulsing water surged into Mawile's mouth, extinguishing the fire and creating large clouds of smoke from Mawile's mouth. Minerva moved in for the kill as Mawile choked on the burning smoke with a Fire Blast that defeated Mawile easily.

As Politoed moved in with Bounce, Minerva intervened and stood right where Politoed would land. She opened her steel jaws wide for a Crunch attack.

First, the sheer impact of the high fall, the great velocity downwards, and Minerva's tough, steel jaws did the trick, almost destroying the poor Politoed. It took a split second for Politoed to get over the pain and bruises, but before he could jump out, Minerva went in and snapped her jaws shut. She flung Politoed to a side, defeating him.

"Alright, we're done." Kishon grinned as he watched the Rocketeers return their Pokemon to their Pokeballs. Firaga was done with Rage, sitting on top of the larger Charizard and doing some form of pose as though he was being painted. As Sabrina hissed and returned Rage to her Pokeball, Firaga fell on his bum.

"Fine. You got us. But whatever, we're done here anyway. We've done our job, and-" she stopped when she screamed at someone attacking her from behind.

As Jayden threw Sabrina down and pinned her to the ground, Elle Renoire stepped in. "Lee and Erza, take care of the other two!"

The Monferno and Zangoose respectively ran towards James and Reggie, and swiftly took them down. Sonya the Noctowl flew up to call out for the members of the police force, while Xue floated about handing her comrades handcuffs, and when Jayden received them she gave a happy squeal.

"This is so fun! Hey, stop squirming, I'm trying to celebrate. Charis, take a photo of me handcuffing her! No, wait, take a video too!" Jayden grinned at me. I staggered up and slowly snapped a few photographs of Jayden posing on top of her first human capture, before I took of video of Jayden happily handcuffing Sabrina.

"That video you took is going on Facebook," she announced, as she yanked Sabrina up and handed her to Elle. "Thanks a whole bunch, Ms Renoire!"

"Oh, please, do not call me that! Call me Elle!" she replied, equally exuberant.

James Galante looked at Ume, the little Squirtle. "Ah. You look familiar. Recognise me, pest?"

Ume turned to the sound of the voice, and froze, and so did Erza, the Zangoose holding Reggie. "S-Squirtle..." she stammered, her eyes wide with fear.

"Stop talking, Galante." Elle's voice was cold.

Erza glared at James, shaking a little. Firaga watched the Squirtle and Zangoose, then shoved James, growling threateningly.

"Don't do that, you stupid Charizard, or maybe your trainer would end up like that breeder. Heh. Electrodes sure did the trick back then..." James mused, smiling. I froze as he wriggled his eyebrows at me. Firaga spread his wings defensively, blocking me from his view, and growled even more. He looked to Ume and Erza for an explanation, and the frightened Squirtle just ran up near Firaga, talking rapidly, shaking her head and in tears.

Erza snarled and his claws flashed out, cutting the thin fabric of Reggie's shirt. "Cut it out, Galante, he's going to kill..."

"Say, I even forgot what your trainer's name was..." James smirked, "but be assured I remember her death quite well...the flames..."

Erza snarled and spat at James, but Leone the Luxray gave him a look that told him to stay put. Ume just shrank back into Firaga, the Charizard getting increasingly protective.

"...yes. I remember. Quite brutal. Erza...is that it? You still...have that scar, don't you? From that knife that nearly killed you?" James smiled again.

"The one...that eventually killed your trainer."

Before anyone could react, Erza gave a pained snarl and ran towards James, claws ready for a kill. Ume started to bawl and Jayden's Ivysaur Chikyu could only run over to shield the yougn Squirtle. Lee, clearly terrified of his fellow comrade's sudden demeanor, froze as James easily yanked his handcuff out of the Monferno's grasp. He watched as the Zangoose ran towards him, before dodging his sharp claws easily and jabbing him in the chest. Then, Reggie rammed into Jayden, shoving her back down and releasing Sabrina from her grasp. The three looked triumphant, as a helicopter with the letter 'R' emblazoned on it swooped above us, dropping a Pokeball down. James released the Alakazam inside and commanded, "Teleport!"

And before anyone of us could attack them, they disappeared, with the Alakazam teleporting them elsewhere.

* * *

We were all sitting in a small cafe. All the Pokemon were there. Even Heracross was there, sitting with everyone else as though he was one of ours. No one spoke, we only listened to what Elle had to say.

* * *

_5 years ago_

* * *

_A mass of charred meat. Found in an abandoned factory. Traces of Electrodes were found; I could still see the sparks flying about. A necklace made of hard diamond, engraved with the initials M.P. A Zangoose bleeding from his chest; the stab wound inches away from his beating heart, ready to give up because he had seen Death himself. A baby Squirtle that he held, the egg shell still stuck on her small head. Coated in the Zangoose's blood. They were just looking at it; looking at her._

_It used to be Melissa Poh. _

"_Hey, Erza..." Elle Renoire whispered slowly, and the Zangoose looked up. If he were relieved to see her, his face showed no sign of it. The baby Squirtle was sniffling, rubbing her head against Erza, trying to hide her tears. She was so young; born a few hours ago. And yet she had witnessed such an injustice. She never got to meet her kind, beautiful trainer; the only person who could list down all of Elle's boyfriends, all of her embarrassing moments..._

_Melissa was Elle's best friend. Everyone knew. Melissa and Elle, Melissa and Elle. Two girls who were so similar and so different, their friendship was like a Milotic; beautiful._

_They used to be joined at the hip, supporting each other. They cried together, they loved together, they laughed together, they lived together. They had each other's friendship and it was all they ever needed. They've been through everything together; through the worst of exams, break-ups, and through university, through falling in love. Everything. Elle was Melissa's and Melissa was Elle's; no one could break their friendship apart._

_Except Death._

_Elle walked over to Erza and the unnamed Squirtle. "Hey, baby," she whispered, and the Squirtle snivelled in response. She reached over and the Squirtle crawled towards her warm arms. Elle felt the cool sensation wash through her. She had to be brave for the two Pokemon. _

_An officer came over to her. "Renoire..." he started, and the broken officer looked up. "I think...you should see this."_

_He guided the three of them slowly to a a heavily charred body, with a pendant still sitting on its neck. "We found her."_

_Elle bent down and examined the pendant. Erza let out a choked cry. "This was..."_

"_Her Meganium."_

"_Marie. That was her name." Elle closed her eyes. "Marie and Leone...they sparred against each other just last night. And now..." she swept the body with her eyes quietly. _

"_Renoire, I'll leave you alone. We'll leave when you're ready." the officer murmured, then shuffled away, leaving Elle to her own thoughts._

* * *

_As the officer left the old factory, he heard an unmistakable scream of anguish ringing out. He went back to the van and sat down, his head in his hands as he listened to the cries of the heartbroken souls._

* * *

"And that is why I am here in Singapore," Elle Renoire confessed, as she took a final napkin to wipe her silent tears. "I am here to eradicate Team Rocket."

We could all hear her final thought even though no one said it aloud.

_But I failed, Melissa._

* * *

**Well...this took a pretty unexpected turn for myself. I was reading up on Elle Renoire and finally saw her past. So I wrote it in. And I actually wanted to continue this chapter because I thought of weird questions for Pokemon in real life, but then I stopped because if I were to write all that humour again, it would destroy the impact of Elle's story.**

**And...I think I'm starting on fifth generation Pokemon. Not that much. But still.**

**To all Singaporeans reading this, and to anyone who's curious, Leticia is a famous fictional maid in Singapore. The actress playing her is amazing. Michelle Chong, if I'm not mistaken. Leticia also has a few famous lines, like "Boy-boy! Don't be angry! Later Leticia make Milo for you!". She even has a boyfriend named Terry, but I forgot to add him in.**

**They all spoke in Singlish. It was funny writing that part. Especially Leticia. I love Leticia!**

**And...um, I'm not sure if everyone here knows Milo. Milo = liquid chocolate = good.**

**Hmm...aside from that...nothing else, I guess. This chapter ended on a more...solemn note. I didn't actually want it like that but I guess it turned out alright for me.**

**Review!**


	19. Le Epic Fail: Charis' POV

We left the village at 10AM the next morning, after they applied some ointment to my bruises. Jayden tried to find Elle for some sparring, but the police officer had left the premises in the middle of the night. No note or anything.

"Thank you for that information, ma'am," I said, smiling gratefully, "Even though you're supposed to be a Pokemon Centre, I'm feeling much better now!"

"No problem, Charis. You could've died, but now you're perfectly fine!" the nurse replied cheerily.

"Um...thanks. We'll be on our way now."

I walked out of the Pokemon Centre and met Jayden and Aeleus outside. "So, shall we leave?" I asked the two of them.

Jayden frowned. "Kishon left us. We tried to find him, but-"

"Nah, he'll be alright. He's not much of an alliance person." I smiled at her. "Trust me, he's doing far better fighting by himself. We'll just let him be, yeah?"

"Okay...if you say so..." Jayden seemed unsure of it, but then she shrugged and waved our markers. "Here are the markers! Here, Aeleus, since you're our Keeper of the Markers." She handed them to him and we started to walk towards our next destination.

* * *

I pointed to the tree I was in the day before. "See, I saw them here. I met Heracross here too. They said something about poisoning the berries or something."

Aeleus nodded his head. "Yeah, but the police were one step ahead of them. Elle gave me a rough idea of what they were doing on this island, and how we've countered it. Apparently, the police sent out a few Grass-type Pokemon to suss out the bad berries, shortly after Team Rocket spiked them. The only party who would _really _be affected would be humans, I guess."

"Because Pokemon have more...instinct in berries?" Jayden asked curiously.

"Yeah, something like that."

I thought back about how the Heracross ate the berries; eating only a certain part, and sometimes even throwing an entire berry out. The Pecha berry he gave me was probably a clean one. And so were the Sitrus berries he stuffed in my backpack. "And I fell down from the tree because I tried apologising to the Heracross..."

"Hera!" Something fell from the tree and to my surprise, Heracross greeted me with an assortment of berries.

"Oh, hi, what a great surprise, _FALLING FROM NOWHERE_!" Jayden roared, looking quite mortified. Heracross smirked and gave us all a cheeky grin.

"Well...um, thanks for everything, Heracross." I patted his head.

"Heracross!" he chirped, and then went back up into his tree.

Jayden sighed. "Geez, I thought it'd be like what happens to Ash Ketchum every time he befriends a Pokemon. The Pokemon would love him and then the Pokemon would stalk...and then Ash catches it. And then you and Heracross can go on this great big adventure!"

At that, Heracross dropped back from his spot and went on both of his thin knees, whimpering and snivelling, with his claws clasped and his eyes tearing at the prospect of this 'adventure' we spoke of.

And at this sight, Jayden gave me a knowing look. "Aww, Charis...~"

"...No. Don't do this to me, Jayden."

Heracross and Jayden exchanged hurtful glances. Then, Heracross grabbed my leg and Jayden grabbed my arm. "Come _on_, it'll be so _fun_!"

"But-"

Aeleus stretched and smiled at me. "You know, we only get to submit two Pokemon for our O levels application...but they didn't say you couldn't have more than two Pokemon..."

"Aeleus approves; now come on, Charis, you know you want a Heracross!"

"Heraaaaaacross!"

"B-But my mum wouldn't want another Pokemon to feed..." I stammered.

"Naw, she wouldn't mind! Just give her a ring or something!"

* * *

"_Goodness, Jie, how am I supposed to feed all of you?"_

"Mum, this was _not _my-"

"_There's your brother and his Chimchar; that's one Pokemon and one human, then there's your sister and that's an additional two Pokemon and one girl! Firaga is two Pokemon and that means I'm feeding all five of us, plus your Pa's Pokemon and my Pokemon, so that makes...SEVEN Pokemon and FIVE of us."_

"Heracross wouldn't eat...much. I could just steal off Barzini's berries; I'm sure he wouldn't mind! And I can just let him off around our place to suck on trees!"

"_...you know what? You're old enough; go decide by yourself, okay? Have you been eating well? How's your team? Jason and Alice, is it? How are they?"_

"...Mum...it's _Jayden_ and _Aeleus_. And yeah, we're all fine, eating well."

"_Okay, how abou-"_

"Yes, Mum, I drink lots of water everyday. And yes, my toilet activities are pretty normal. Nothing much has happened. We're still travelling. So, um, I gotta go. Bye!"

As I heard my mum cheerily bade me farewell and hung up, I sighed and looked at Heracross. "...Okay, fine, you can join me...but I don't have a Pokeball on me. So you are to follow me, and if you ever change your mind, you are to report to all of us so we can all have-"

"A sappy, sappy sad goodbye scene with the sunset background. Just like the Pokemon shows..." Jayden smiled wistfully.

I stared at her. "Um...yeah. Something like that."

Heracross looked very pleased, and before we walked off, he went over to his loving tree and kissed it goodbye, sapping it of almost all its sap.

"Right. Okay. Shall we move?" Aeleus remarked, looking at the road before us.

Jayden consulted her map. "We're not very far, so maybe we can get to the fifth village by today! Or even the _sixth_!"

"Start walking, guys, or we'll never reach!" I cut in excitedly. Heracross didn't know what the hype was about, but he seemed really happy by the commotion, so he ran about excitedly, with Firaga watching like an old man watching his grandson.

* * *

The fourth village...wasn't exactly a village. It was just a clearing, with Ms Ellis Crystal and Mr Ethan Glenn. And a dome.

...wait. A _dome_...?

"Welcome to the Pokeathlon, guys!" Ms Ellis welcomed us, as she dumped garlands on all of us. "You guys _will _have to take part in this, and prove to us that you're fit!"

Mr Glenn grinned. "And then...we'll give you the key- oh, wait, never mind. Um...the markers." He gave me a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I've been replaying Kingdom Hearts."

His Absol, Riku, sniggered. _Coming from a Pokemon named after a character in Kingdom Hearts..._

"Anyway, you'll be taking part in a standardized course specially for Lanseal students! We figured you have to-"

"_STOP POKEMON DISCRIMINATION!_" a small female crowd roared. As they neared us I realised that Amber Smith, Markus' cousin, was fast approaching us.

"Hey, guys!" Amber bounded up to me, her blonde hair cascading down like a supermodel. For a 14-year-old, she was quite a sight...even for straight girls. "Sign this please!"

Jayden snatched it up and read it aloud.

* * *

"_We are a group of female Pokemon rights activists appealing to the Pokemon Organization to stop __sexist discrimination against all Pokemon! We would like to appeal for them to change the following names of the Pokemon._

_Mr. Mime - Ms. Mime for the female Pokemon_

_Geodude - Geodudette for the female Pokemon_

_Please add your signature in and together, we can defeat gender discrimination against female Pokemon. _

_DIGNITY FOR ALL_

* * *

"...Seems legit," was all I could say. "Um...well, this is a good, um, cause you're helping."

"Heheh, of course!" Amber grinned, then shoved the papers into my face. "So sign it already!"

"We'll sign it later, okay, Amber? The Lanseal students have to go through a Pokeathlon first!" Mr Glenn looked at all of us expectantly. "We'll need one more student though..."

"C-Can I join? Hi, Jayden. Hi, Aeleus." a boy walked towards us, smiling. He had an Umbreon and a Larvitar, but the most distinct features were the little rings around his arms that somehow made him look like a walking Umbreon. He had a black jacket on, zipped all the way up, and dark jeans...which just made the whole Umbreon thing even more obvious.

Aeleus greeted the boy like an old friend, but Jayden had the exact opposite reaction. "Dude, who the hell are you and how the _hell _do you know my name?" she spat out, mortified. Chikyu and Seishin didn't look as shocked as their trainer; they seemed to be enjoying the scene.

Our purple-haired companion looked at us. "Geez, you don't know Kai? My fellow one-eighth Japanese, one-eighth Korean, one-eighth Singaporean and one-eighth American friend!"

I thought about it for a split second. "What happened to the other half of his screwed-up nationality?"

He didn't answer until Jayden butted in. "Hey K, what happened to the half?"

"_No one knows..._" Kai whispered softly, and the two boys burst out laughing. Jayden shivered. I scowled at the feeling of being ignored.

"Anyway, I'm Kai Zade! My Umbreon, Kage, and my Larvitar, Tyson. Well, looks like we'll be in it for a fine Pokeathlon." He extended an arm to Jayden and she shook it warily, then completely looked over me and said, "Okay, guys, shall we head in?"

* * *

_TEAM GREEN: _Jayden Rivers, Chikyu, Seishin

TEAM YELLOW: Kai Zade, Tyson, Kage

_TEAM BLUE: _Aeleus Rivera, Swirls, Minerva

_TEAM RED: _Charis Hon, Firaga, Heracross

* * *

_ROUND ONE: HURDLE DASH_

* * *

"I don't like the feeling of this..." I mumbled, as I stepped out in some outrageous red suit. "I hate running and running is bad."

I stared at the track and couldn't help but gulp. The looming hurdles just made me sick, and as I thought of the sick scenarios in which I would get trapped in the hurdles forever, Jayden stepped out in a skin-tight suit, similar to mine except for the blazing green. "I look like a Slytherin."

"...you're right..." I mumbled, watching as Firaga and Heracross stretched. Firaga was sharing some strategy thing with Heracross. The bug Pokemon seemed very eager, and as the heated conversation went on, they just kept on nodding vigorously.

"You know, you haven't named that Heracross yet." Jayden plopped down next to me.

"Yeah. To be fairly honest, I'm not even sure whether Heracross' a guy or a girl," I admitted, scratching my head. "But well, if he...or she, wants to go, then I guess it'll save me some form of emotional trauma."

"Mm, fair enough. Say, what are the boys doing, taking so long?" Jayden stretched out and she lay down on the bench.

"What boys?" a high-pitched voice chirped and I jumped. We turned around, and Ray was there, hiding behind the seat with a video camera.

"...Ray, what the hell?" I couldn't help myself.

His Shuppet and Smeargle soon materialized from nowhere (or rather, I didn't notice them coming) and he smiled at them. "I'm gonna videotape your every movement!"

"...that was disturbing to hear, and I'm not even the victim here," Jayden pointed out, with a disgusted face.

"I've been secretly videotaping you guys! Here, watch!" Ray wriggled his way between Jayden and I and switched on his camcorder. We watched our sleeping forms, and Jayden doing an itch dance on her bed, before getting up and stripping off (or ripping off) her nightgown in absolute frustration, revealing her Lara Croft-style clothes beneath.

"And this..." he muttered, seemingly unperturbed by Jayden's strip. We peered into the small screen and I watched my body plummet into the ground, only to be saved by Skittles.

"It wasn't a very big fall anyway," he stated matter-of-factly, "and even without your Delcatty, you would've broken a leg."

We stared at the video, as he rewinded it back. "Hm...maybe you _would've _died. Or maybe paralysed yourself. You were dropping in the wrong angle!"

"...Thanks, Ray, but I don't need to know that I nearly died. And the Pokeathlon's starting. So...yeah. See you." I stood up, as we saw Aeleus and Kai approach the tracks.

"_HELLO, STUDENTS! Ooh, I've always wanted to say it like that!" _Ms Ellis' booming voice sounded through the dome. _"Get ready, guys! On your marks!"_

I gulped. We took our places behind our Pokemon. The hurdles were scattered here and there, and we could just bypass it, but it would take quite some time and in Hurdle Dash, time was precious. We had to race behind our Pokemon, and they'd take our average timings, before calculating our score. There were three courses to complete, and this was our first.

...and hopefully, my last.

"_Get set...!"_

I was still standing upright when I saw all three of my competitors bent down, butts up in the air. "...I really don't..."

"So, it's just all three of us, right?" Kai asked, looking right through me.

I was starting to get annoyed. Turning to him, I tried to talk some sense into his fuddled, anti-Charis brain of Umbreons. "Hello? I'm standing righ-"

"_GOOOOOOOOOOO!"_

_Shit. _

Jayden and Kai had sprinted all the way, and as I slowly got into a reluctant jog, I saw that Aeleus had done the same. He looked at me with this knowing smile and shrugged. "I'm saving up!"

...and I don't even have a strategy. Great.

As I got into some form of a run and dodged the hurdles (I hated jumping and this was a perfect place to avoid hurdles during a race), I realised that Firaga and Heracross were flying at top speeds towards the finish line. That was when the two of them finally decided to check on their trainer. Heracross looked at his companion worriedly, but Firaga had this valiant, _you-go-on-without-me _sort of body language, before he turned around and zoomed back towards me.

Before I could protest, he grabbed my arms and he set off for the finish line at a blinding speed. It really was blinding; I couldn't see or hear a thing. Like apparition, or teleportation; the first moment and I was already panting, and the next moment I'm at the finish line, and someone has grabbed my arm and screamed "WINNER!"

* * *

_TEAM STANDINGS_

_TEAM RED – _Charis Hon

_TEAM GREEN – _Jayden Rivers

_TEAM BLUE – _Aeleus Rivera

_TEAM YELLOW – _Kai Zade

* * *

_INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS_

_HERACROSS – TEAM RED_

_FIRAGA AND CHARIS – TEAM RED_

_JAYDEN RIVERS – TEAM GREEN_

* * *

_ROUND TWO – BLOCK SMASH_

* * *

"Why didn't Seishin just teleport you guys?" Aeleus asked.

"Because, at least Seishin isn't some cheating, _conniving _Pokemon! Unlike _some _Pokemon here!" Jayden snarled, and she gave Firaga an evil glare, which was met with a snort. Heracross was oblivious of the situation, as he took some random Sitrus berries from his secret stash in his magic wings and handed them to everyone out of goodwill.

"Thanks, Heracross, you're a saint!" Aeleus took the berry from him and bit at it. He looked at Heracross' wings. "Are your wings magic or something? You're giving out an awful lot of berries."

As Heracross shrugged, Kai moved in. "_No one knows..._" he whispered again, in the same evil, I'm-planning-something-bad voice.

"...is that your catchphrase or something?" Jayden queried, looking quite annoyed.

"Do you like it?" was his response, and Jayden sighed.

"It's a weird catchphrase," I was trying to test if he really _was _ignoring me on purpose.

No response. And Jayden patted me sympathetically, like I was a hobo who had no friends and she was a random passer-by.

We were all seated on a long bench, which overlooked 12 stacks of heavy-looking objects. 4 of them were for us; we had to break planks one by one, through one way or another. The others were concrete slabs the Pokemon had to destroy.

Firaga flicked his tail and smiled. Heracross flexed his long arms and checked the back of his wings, presumably for Sitrus berries. They seemed ready enough.

"_CONTESTANTS TO THE SLA- oops, sorry, was I too loud?" _Again, Ms Ellis and her failed attempt to destroy our ears.

Without another word, we all headed to our stations. I was beside Jayden, who was bouncing in her place. She had been training ever since she was young, honing her martial arts skills and the sheer force of her blows.

_BEEP_

_BEEP_

_BEEP_

_DIIIIIING_

Firaga was smashing stack by stack, being refilled by the helpers nearby. He had Iron Tail on, and he wasn't wasting time. Seishin was smashing stacks by the dozen with Psychic. All she had to do was to look at the tons of stacks allocated to her, and then destroy it with her mind. Heracross was having lots and lots of fun, smashing slab by slab. He didn't exactly notice it was a competition until Firaga snarled at him to hurry up.

In a span of five seconds, Jayden's team had racked up 150 points alone.

"Stupid plank, _BREAK ALREADY!_" I screamed, as I set it between the two bricks and hit at the unsupported side. What I didn't expect was for the plank to suddenly give way, right when I was using all my strength...

...my hand collided with the concrete floor.

"_YEOWCH_!" I yelped, and shook my hand vigorously to be rid of the burning pain that was riding up my arm.

Jayden was practically playing with the planks. She was tossing them up quickly and smashing them with various parts of her body. Head, ears (don't ask how; physical activities elude me), arms, thumbs, knees, legs, toes, bum...she was like a skilled acrobat doing her favourite tricks.

The boys were doing fine, since they had the strength (and the mental ego and mentality that they were strong) to break planks, so I was the only one lagging behind. But as I smashed each plank into half, I finally got the hang of it. "Oh _yeah_, planks, you're going _down_!"

I didn't even take note of our individual scores until the very final second, when I looked up and saw that I was last. "...I'm not even surprised..."

* * *

_TEAM STANDINGS_

_TEAM GREEN – _Jayden Rivers

_TEAM RED – _Charis Hon

_TEAM YELLOW – _Kai Zade

_TEAM BLUE – _Aeleus Rivera

* * *

_INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS_

_SEISHIN – TEAM GREEN_

_FIRAGA – TEAM RED_

_TYSON – TEAM YELLOW_

* * *

_ROUND THREE – DODGEBALL_

* * *

"No. This is not happening."

I held in my hands two balls. No, they weren't Pokeballs, much to my dismay, and they weren't...you-know-what-balls; I'm not _that _wanted...or _that _desperate.

We also had some form of device strapped to our bodies. Every hit to the device would earn us one...penalty. Or something. Either way, the person or Pokemon with the most penalties would get zero, and the person or Pokemon with the least would get 100 points. The rest would be moderated accordingly. If the first-place had not been hit at all, that would be an extra 100 points to the team.

I looked at my Pokemon and sighed. We were big, bulky, and clumsy. There was no way, unless...

"_READY GUYS? LET'S DODGE THE BALLS!" _As the whistle blew, I ran into the middle, stupidly, and everyone just stared at me.

"Why not we all just _not _hit each other? That way, we'd _all _have the least penalties and we'd all get 100 points- no, 200 points!" I beamed at all of them.

"That makes some form of sense..." Jayden trailed off to her own thoughts. "I think this could work!"

She grinned at Aeleus, who tilted his head a little to a side, as though unsure of what I had said. "Is that allowed?"

"If no one hits us, then yeah, sure. Well, if this plan goes, I'm going to get some ice cream!" Everyone stared at her incredulously, but Jayden just shrugged. "Oh come on, didn't you guys see the ice cream man outside? Ice cream, old school Singapore style!"

Aeleus looked pretty interested. "You mean the one where the ice cream either comes in a flimsy cup, or sandwiched between two wafers, or even a literal ice cream sandwich with actual pandan bread?"

"Yep!"

"And it's the one where the ice cream man usually looks like an old perv?" Aeleus asked again excitedly.

"...um...that is..." Jayden nodded comtemplatively with her eyes narrowed in sceptism, "accurate..."

"AH! Now I know what those are!" Aeleus looked very pleased with himself.

I grinned at all of them, and I took pains to ignore Kai, who was zoning off in his own little world where I don't exist. "I trust you all to make the right- OOF!"

I was hit.

"...What...the..._HELL_? We had an agreement; hello?" I snapped.

"It hit? Woops. Who the hell are you anyway?" Kai asked, genuinely quizzical. I couldn't believe the guy. His evil, sneaky Larvitar snickered, and I realised that he only had one ball left.

"...you know, Kai, you shouldn't have hit our soon-to-be ally like that...we really could've settled for ice cream," Aeleus mused.

And now that I had one penalty, we wouldn't get that extra 200 points. Outraged, Firaga snarled, and picked up his ball. Throwing it high in the air, he swung his tail in a fit of anger...and forgot to aim.

It took a few seconds for everyone to realise that Firaga had hit Chikyu, and a beep sounded on his device. The Ivysaur snarled and grabbed two balls with his vines.

Jayden ran to the centre and shoved me aside, and it somehow earned me another penalty. "DOOOOOOOODGEBALL!" she screamed at the top of her voice in a war cry, and Seishin picked up what seemed like a whole tsunami of the balls with her psychic. With a cry, she sent them flying in all directions.

"Duck and cover!" Aeleus shouted, and he went into some turtle position, as his device was hit by the evil balls.

I screamed as I ran about in circles, not knowing exactly what to do because my brain was still trying to process what had just happened. Firaga was beating away all the balls with his wings and tail, protecting his device and running towards Seishin, his wings encasing his body. As he neared Seishin, his wings swung open and he charged, hoping to distract Seishin from her psychic throwing with his...scary face or something.

And in retaliation, the Kirlia hurled a Hyper Beam of balls at his device...and broke it.

"...does that mean I get no penalty, guys?" I asked as we all stopped to see Firaga and his busted device. Firaga didn't seem very affected (eating helped) but the device started to malfunction and apparently exploded on the Charizard.

Ms Ellis and Mr Glenn exchanged amused glances. "Actually, Charis," Mr Glenn started, "it means that the Pokeathlon is over, and your team will automatically get the least amount of points."

Firaga's jaw dropped and he let out a girly whimper. Heracross was just sitting there like a saint, with no penalty to his device. He just started to hand out his magical Sitrus berries for everyone.

"So...your results!"

* * *

_TEAM STANDINGS_

_TEAM GREEN –_ Jayden Rivers

_TEAM YELLOW _- Kai Zade

_TEAM BLUE –_ Aeleus Rivera

_TEAM RED –_ Charis Hon

* * *

Firaga and I gave each other horrified glances. We were competitive, and we fought for the top few places in everything. Getting to the 'above average' grade was not normal; we usually got nothing less than 'excellent' grades.

But to _fail completely_? Now _that _was something Firaga and I didn't really like. And this was why I hated all things physical and exercise.

"BUT! We have individual prizes! For the person or Pokemon that hit the most..."

Firaga lit up.

"...Seishin of Team Green!" Mr Glenn announced. Then he looked around for Ms Ellis. "Um, your confetti will come shortly."

Ms Ellis ran up to the Kirlia and threw confetti around her. Seishin took a graceful twirl and Jayden sniffed in some form of maternal happiness for her Pokemon.

"For the person or Pokemon that failed the most..."

I sighed inwardly.

"...CHARIS! Aw, you poor thing; we both thought that for your epic fail of an attempt to team up for this event..."

"And for all your other fails," Ms Ellis added helpfully.

"Yes, for all your fails...we shall give you points for giving us entertainment value! 100 points to _GRYFFINDOR_! ...sorry, I always thought you guys look like the respective houses in _Harry Potter._" Mr Glenn smiled at me.

And to add to my complete embarrassment, Ms Ellis threw confetti in my face. No, not around me. She threw it in my face like I was supposed to eat it.

"Oh, my, dear cousin, you _are _an awful failure!" someone mocked me, and I whipped around and saw Ricchan, the Boy Who Had Lord Voldemort The Magikarp, laughing at the videos Ray had taken of me. "My, my, say, Raivis Nikolai, would you sell me these videos on a blu-ray disc for say, a hundred dollars in hard cold cash?"

Ray looked at the money and licked his lips. "I can build my time machine with that...it's a deal!" and just like that, my eternal shame was sealed in a firm handshake between stalker, and stalker cousin.

...and it costs a hundred dollars.

* * *

_FINAL TEAM STANDINGS_

_TEAM GREEN –_ Jayden Rivers

_TEAM YELLOW _- Kai Zade

_TEAM BLUE –_ Aeleus Rivera

_TEAM RED –_ Charis Hon

* * *

We walked out of the Pokeathlon Dome, sweaty and ready for...anything. Ricchan was still following me around, boasting about how his Togepi, nicknamed LOL which stands for Lustrous Omnipotent Lion, could run faster than me, and that I ran slower than his grandmother. And how Lord Voldemort the Fifth could outrun me on land if he tried.

"Ricchan...what _are _you doing here anyway?" I asked, exasperated.

"Oh. I'm here to catch a rare sighting of a mythical Pokemon that lives around here! It's for my university test, mind you, and you _all _know I'm going to study in Oxford, but I'm studying here as a part-time student because the National University of Singapore _loves _me-"

Firaga scowled and smacked Ricchan hard at the back of his head, knocking the poor boy cold.

"...I can't believe I'm saying this, but...thanks, Firaga."

"Nya." Skittles approved.

* * *

As we walked towards our next village in the late afternoon, I finally turned to Heracross and smiled. "Heracross, you will henceforth be known as Saint Sitrus!"

Jayden furrowed her eyebrows and Aeleus gave a slight chuckle. "Why the weird name?"

"Well...he's been an angel so far...and he has magical Sitrus berries beneath his wings!" I beamed at them. "I've been thinking about it ever since we left! In fact, I still have some Sitrus berries from the Team Rocket attack! It's in my bag. He stuffed it in."

St. Sitrus looked just as happy, listening to his fancy new name.

And just like that, I added a Heracross to my little eccentric family.

* * *

**If you guys want to do a special chapter...well, you can pick some OCS that we have! Just go re-read the whole fanfic, or if you want, PM me for suggestions! And well, you can add in your OC, add in some competition, and we're good to go!**

**By the way, we're still short on the teachers. So if you're in for it, send in an OC on a teacher! I counted and wrote them on paper for this chapter; I only have 4 teachers.**

**You can teach English, Elementary Math, Additional Math, any of the sciences except agriculture and berries, and you can specialise in battling. Geography is also available! (: I'm trying not to create a teacher but if I have to, I will!**

**Anyway, read and review! How do you imagine a Pokeathlon to be anyway? I don't think having your Pokemon run for you is a good idea. You will have the Pokemon activists screaming that it's Pokemon abuse. And it's just not nice. **

**Plus, any particular campaign you can think of that Pokemon activists would conduct? Aside from eating Pidgey meat and all. Anything! I actually thought of the gender discrimination while running about in the Safari Zone in Soulsilver, looking for that stupid Geodude that Baoba wanted. I caught a female Mr Mime and named her Ms. Mime. Then I caught a female Geodude and named her Geodudette.**

**...no. Seriously.**

**...um...review!**


	20. Battle On: Charis' POV

We arrived at the fifth village by sundown. We could all see the sun setting slowly. "At least we found the Pokemon Centre..." Aeleus said, yawning.

I looked up at the single tower they called a Pokemon Centre. "...Um...are you _sure _this is a Pokemon Centre?"

"Oh, Charis, don't _worry_!" Jayden slapped my back and I winced at the dull ache that followed. Stupid Pokeathlon. "Let's just head in and see. Well, if it isn't, we could always camp out!"

Firaga and Skittles both groaned, and when St. Sitrus looked to the Charizard and Delcatty for an explanation, they started gesticulating wildly and whining, sounding very distressed. Minerva, Swirls, Seishin and Chikyu all joined in the lively discussion, but the more the Pokemon complained, the more St. Sitrus beamed at the prospect of camp.

And when St. Sitrus fixed us all a meaningful look, the Pokemon fell into silence, looking pleased with themselves for having gained an anti-camper...until the Heracross pulled out more Sitrus berries from beneath his magic wings.

"...I have this strange feeling that St. Sitrus didn't get what camp meant." I sighed, looking at the large, looming tower. "We should just go in and check it out, right?"

All of us walked in, and instead of bright lights illuminating the building, it was complete darkness save for Firaga's tail and everyone's beady eyes staring around.

Jayden gulped. "Um, this is weird...should we...turn back and hope that we'll make it to the sixth village?"

"I have your markers, you know."

Suddenly, I felt a buzzing noise coming from the side. Gulping, I threw myself onto the ground, just as something sharp flew overhead and slammed into a wall.

Firaga hurried over to the wall, where a stinger was lodged neatly in it. "Seishin, give us some light!" Jayden quickly demanded, and the Kirlia wasted no time in illuminating our surroundings.

It wasn't very helpful. We couldn't even see our opponents; just each other's worried faces...except St. Sitrus, chomping down on a Sitrus berry. He wasn't in the least bit disturbed by a stinger that could've killed.

"If you manage to find me in the darkness..." a voice boomed through the speakers, "...you may have the markers and the attacks will stop."

_A-Attacks?_

"However, failure to do so..." and we watched apprehensively as a Persian snaked towards us. First there was one, and then there were two, and then four, and then-, "...you all will subject yourselves to a memory wipe which will clear Team Rocket's imprint on your minds. That is, of course, if you survive this ordeal. I am sure Lanseal will simply sack me; nothing more, and no one will know about what happened a few days ago."

And he said something that chilled me.

_May the odds be ever in your favour._

I know quoting _The Hunger Games _was rather weird, but considering the plot of young people getting killed to entertain others...the quote was bad.

All three of us started to panic. "WhatdowedoWHATDOWEDO?" I screamed in absolute horror, running around in circles. Panic _finally _settled on St. Sitrus' face...or was it just concern for his lunatic of a trainer?

"Calm down, and uh, _RUN_!" Aeleus shouted back, and we both ran back to the door, trying to use brute force to break out, only to run headfirst (that was just me actually) into a hard, cold door that was securely locked.

I heard a roar and stopped breathing when another stinger zipped past my face, lodging itself firmly next to me. I could practically feel the heat emanating from it...and from the corner of my eye, a purple glisten made me realise that it was no ordinary stinger.

_Poison Sting._

I inched away from it, hoping that I wouldn't bump into anything else. But I did; I bumped into Skittles.

"Nyah!" she hissed, and glared at me. She wasn't very pleased with our situation either. She was looking darkly into the...dark. And at last I saw what she was glaring at.

A Shuckle...?

His shell was glistening; he was obviously increasing his defences in the dark, while we were all screaming our heads off (or maybe it was just me) and not doing much productive searching. His eyes were closed in deep concentration, making not a single move.

"Skittles, use Blizzard to freeze the Pokemon!" I whispered, and the Delcatty quickly obliged, as she opened her mouth and released a strong Blizzard. The cold wind made the Shuckle even more rigid, and as ice formed, he was soon encased in a strong mold of ice.

"I think you should maintain it; you never know what this thing is capable of..." I trailed off as Skittles nodded pleasantly. She prowled around her masterpiece, blasting an Ice Beam here and there.

Then I suddenly remembered I had my phone. Pulling it out of my pocket, I pressed at a random button, brightening the small path. As I crawled slowly, I spotted Firaga's tail swishing its way in my direction, and I felt relieved when he pulled me up to my feet with an amused snort.

With Firaga was St. Sitrus, who now looked worried for his surroundings. There wasn't much of a sound except for our heavy breathing and Jayden's pacing around, looking for Aeleus. "Hey Saint, could you give me a Sitrus berry?" I asked weakly, and St. Sitrus grinned happily, handing me his berry. I took it and whispered, "Sorry I have to do this, St. Sitrus," before I grabbed Firaga's tail and lit it on fire. Then I tossed it away from us, and I saw the face of a Persian looking at us suspiciously, before he snarled.

"Uh oh," I muttered under my breath, as the Persian started to multiply himself, with a splendidly performed Double Team. Clones and clones of Persians appeared, all looking equally real and menacing. I couldn't help but cry out in fright.

"F-Firaga, Fire Spin! St. Sitrus, we need more berries to light the room!" St. Sitrus nodded and started handing me slightly rotten Sitrus berries, a few Pecha and Oran berries that probably saw better days, and because he knew of my plan, he lit them all up with Firaga's tail and threw them in many directions. With his strength, I managed to gauge how big the room was, and I caught a glimpse of Mr Grunt standing there, observing the battles with a sly smile on his face.

Jayden and Aeleus were handling more Persians and Beedrills. As they tried to take down the Double Teaming Pokemon, the real Persian and Beedrill kept trying to land a hit on their Pokemon. "Chikyu, Razor Leaf! You too, Seishin; not Razor Leaf though, but you know what I'm talking about! A Magical Leaf!"

"Kirrr!" Seishin replied hastily, rolling her eyes at how anxious Jayden was; she was shaking but still trying to maintain a modicum of composure. Her voice belied her supposedly strong stance. Seishin was confident, and she was shaking too, but with energy radiating instead of fear; the Kirlia was going to protect her trainer.

St. Sitrus finally scattered enough berries around the room for me to see everything clearly. "St. Sitrus, follow me! Firaga, clear a path; I'm stopping the attacks!"

Firaga nodded and blasted a Flamethrower in the direction of Mr. Grunt, still looking quite amused and unruffled by the light in the room, and the flaming berries that lit up the place. The Persians there dissipated, and we quickly ran across the room.

As I was going to reach Mr Grunt, a shattering of ice was heard, and Skittles was suddenly sent flying, right into us. The Delcatty got up, hissing at the Shuckle, who just looked as though he was hibernating. "Rest...!" I hissed to myself. "St. Sitrus, go fight off the Shuckle and make sure he doesn't harm Firaga, alright?" When I saw worry cross his innocent features, I smiled at him. "It's alright, I have Skittles with me, don't I?"

"Nyah!" Skittles nodded, as she nudged him away. The Shuckle was launching a Stone Edge at the Charizard's back, but St. Sitrus swiftly knocked away the opponent. I gulped as I continued to squint around for Mr Grunt. The teacher was missing from his seat, and as the berries started to burn out, we were running out of time.

"Can you find him, Skittles?" I asked, looking around uncertainly. My eyesight was good enough for general usage, but when it came to darkness, I was almost as useless as a Magikarp. Skittles poked her nose through the air, trying to sense him around. "We just need to poke him in the eye or something, it'll probably stop the attacks..."

"Doubt it would, Charis," came the reply at my side, and before I could scream, I saw a ghost of a familiar smile – it was Aeleus, and Swirls, the once carefree Poliwhirl narrowing his eyes darkly.

"Give me another way, then!" I snapped, frowning.

"Find the light switch?" he offered, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"Give me one reason as to why would a Rocket intent on having our brains and hearts for dinner leave the _light switch_ unattende-"

Aeleus stood up while I was speaking and flicked on the elusive light switch. The room which we had feared was now a completely normal empty room, save for Mr Grunt and his Pokemon. A Beedrill, two Persians who had stopped multiplying themselves, and a Shuckle. Jayden realised she was tussling with Chikyu's vines for some unknown reason (and screaming, "Stop, you evil Chikyu clone!" repeatedly) and Mr Grunt was just a few steps away from where I was, on all fours.

Jayden and Chikyu stopped. "Um...this is awkward."

Mr Grunt looked at all of us. His Persians were looking exhausted, his Beedrill looked as though he was enjoying himself (trying to kill us, no less) and his Shuckle was just looking nonchalantly at Firaga and St. Sitrus. Firaga realised that St. Sitrus was just seated by the wall, watching the battle between Firaga and the Shuckle, with a handful of Sitrus berries, and with absolutely no intention of helping out. He looked pretty happy about it as well, and Firaga looked as though he was going to tear out the Heracross' throat.

"Okay, we found you and your light switch, so...um, do we get to leave without potentially dying?" I asked, as I backed towards the wall where Aeleus and the light switch was. Skittles was shaking her head to get used to the harsh light, and Swirls was rubbing hard.

"Dying?" Mr Grunt seemed genuinely surprised. "Who said I was going to _kill_ you students?"

We all stared at him in silence until I laughed nervously. "Um...maybe I exaggerated everything again..."

"Like the fall that you thought would kill you," Aeleus remarked.

"And well, tons of other things," Jayden chirped in.

His Beedrill looked sheepish at this point, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, no. Not really. I was going to just destroy your defenses, both physical and mental, so I would prepare you for a memory wipe-out, after which you would walk out of this tower completely unharmed, except for a hole in your memory you all would be unable to explain." Mr Grunt said this all so bluntly I frowned at the thought of...urgh.

Firaga rolled his eyes and hurriedly launched into attack mode. He delivered an Iron Tail to an unprepared Shuckle, then blasted a Flamethrower at Beedrill, before turning to the two Persians and destroying them both with an Overheat that burnt them both.

"...so we can walk out now?" I asked, as Firaga yawned.

Mr Grunt stood with his mouth gaping. "J-Just like that?" he spoke shakily. His calm stance somehow crumbled at the sight of his defeated Pokemon. "Y-You can't be ser-"

"Mr Grunt, I'm afraid we're serious. Seriously!" Jayden insisted.

Aeleus smiled at him. "Well, we'd best get going. See you around, eh, Mr Grunt?"

The teacher smirked. "I doubt you'll be seeing me around once you leave this room."

Firaga, who was more than ready to leave (he had already pushed open the door and had one foot outside), turned around and gave a confused sound. "Um, what?" I asked.

"Once you leave...it means that I have already failed the mission," Mr Grunt explained nonchalantly, "and that would mean Team Rocket would erase my memory instead."

"You mean you're getting sacked?" I paraphrased, raising an eyebrow. "But isn't that a good thing to get sacked from the world's most evil organization ever?"

He gave a dry laugh. "I've been working in Team Rocket ever since I was about your age, actually. You could say that much of Team Rocket is imbedded in my memory."

Aeleus frowned. "They're erasing decades of memories, you mean to say. And it wouldn't be a very...nice outcome."

"Correct. But I've expired a long time ago; I think it's completely alright. Watching the three of you battle is good enough." He smiled and walked over to Aeleus, giving him a weak squeeze on the shoulder. "At least I'm going brain-dead for bright students who would do fantastically well in their lives. Whether you're planning to be a Pokemon trainer," and his eyes twinkled in my direction, "a martial arts expert, or even a doctor, you'll do fine, and that's good enough for me, I believe."

Now we all felt this small lump at the back of our throats; he didn't want to kill us and now, he had to subject himself to a memory wipe that would leave him severely handicapped; a 17-year-old or something in a 50-year-old's body. Years and years of memories, good or bad; they had to be destroyed.

"Now go, hurry, before the Rockets get here. And take the markers. Don't say a word about this. And...I hope you don't meddle in Team Rocket's affairs." He frowned at Firaga, and then turned to me. "It's dangerous. Nothing like the Pokemon show. We're absolutely nothing like that; we're everywhere. You just keep an eye out for yourselves, okay?"

"But Mr Grunt-!"

"Go. Coins, Whiskers, please ensure they leave the premises immediately." Mr Grunt took a step back and sat down in his simple chair, his eyes closed.

The two Persians came to us and snarled, though their eyes were sad, as though they already knew that this was coming. We moved away, and as our backs collided with the door, it swung open and we fell outside, stunned as the great glass door swung shut, once again.

"...What do you think just happened?" Jayden nervously asked, as we picked ourselves up and tried to stare into the cold glass building.

"I'm not very sure...but if what Mr Grunt says is true, we'd better get out of here; the Rockets are coming soon," I replied, gulping as I heard footsteps approaching. Aeleus and Jayden silently agreed and without casting a single glance back at the Battle Tower, we moved away from the horrors that Mr Grunt would face, because that was his wish, and we respected that.

* * *

No one said a word until we reached the 6th village, which was a bustling little carnival. "Step right up, challengers!" we could all hear a great booming voice shout, "and enter the Battle Factory battles! If you win 3 battles at one go, you'll win a prize! Lanseal students step forth; your markers are with me and you have to win at least 3 battles too!" an announcer called out, with a conveyor belt in front of her. It was already dark, and we were all drained and mildly upset at our helplessness at the fifth village, but suddenly, our moods lifted at the sights and sounds.

"Cotton candy!" Jayden shouted in excitement, and Firaga looked at me with a pleading look. Skittles licked her lips and St. Sitrus was off, attacking a stranger's Sudowoodo before realising that the 'tree' could attack him and had no sap to speak of. He got pretty excited by the atmosphere and I couldn't blame him.

As Firaga tugged my bag repeatedly, I sighed. "Okay, we'll have ten bucks each to eat and do whatever we want." I pointed at the large looming clock, perched on a steel pole that resembled a Steelix. "We have to meet back by the announced by 8pm, so we have 30 minutes."

"Yes, mummy, see you!" Jayden called, laughing as she ran towards the candy store, with a rampaging Charizard, a salivating Heracross, a very sugar-high Delcatty, and all the other Pokemon going crazy and rushing towards the poor candy man, toungues wagging and looking very eager to stuff themselves silly.

"I'll go back for some cotton candy later," I muttered to myself, sulking. "Too much of a queue."

Aeleus looked around thoughtfully. "I'll go look around this place. I don't see a Pokemon Centre. This village is just a straight path with stands lining it, you know." He smiled, then walked off, in search of a rest place for later on.

I sighed and walked over to where the announcer was standing, and then I spotted Kishon, Kimberly Younan and Daisy Hart all standing before the announcer, looking very grim.

"Hey, guys," I greeted as I joined them, "how's everything?"

"Horrible," Kishon spat, looking rather upset. "This game is horrid. We couldn't even get past the second battle without getting thrashed."

"I keep on getting Kishon's Garchomp as one of my choices!" Kimberly wailed.

"Isn't getting Gairbith a good thing?" Kishon questioned, appalled. Gairbith crossed his arms, mimicking his trainer, and glaring at Kimberly darkly.

"I want Hope and Precious!" she replied. Her tall, slender frame towered over Kishon and he couldn't help but give a sulky pout.

Hope and Precious were Kimberly's 'children' as she had put it affectionately once; a Leafeon and a Pichu who almost evolved but didn't. They were now practically glued to her side, nuzzling her legs.

Daisy Hart grinned. "I like games! Come on, guys, one more try and we'll let Charis and her friends try or something!"

Kishon narrowed his eyes at me, but I saw a playful glint in his eyes, and a twitch of his lips. "At least I can see you lose."

At this, Daisy grinned. Her Buizel, Bombi, burst out laughing, and her Breloom Pita looked on in consternation.

"...that wasn't very nice of you." I remarked.

Kishon shrugged, then turned to the announcer. "Fine! We'll do this one more time!" he snapped. "Return, Gair, Cerine!"

In an instant, the Garchomp and Ralts were engulfed in a warm red light, returning to their Pokeballs. The two girls did the same, and they resolutely chucked the Pokeballs onto the conveyor belt, which led into a machine.

"Alright! Here goes!" the announcer cheered. She jammed this bright red button and the Pokeballs moved into the machine. When they were all in, the machine started making those mechanical noises, and it sounded as though the Pokeballs were being mixed in with the others. Then, the announcer pressed the big button again, typing in a few more commands, before the conveyor belt started to move, presenting 3 stacks of 6 Pokeballs each. The Pokeballs all rolled and stopped in front of the three students, as I watched on.

"Ahh! I got the Garchomp again!" Kimberly cried out, as Kishon pursed his lips into a thin line, looking on crossly. He examined the Pokeballs in front of him and picked a random two, shutting his eyes tight.

"It works like this; you get to mix in your Pokeballs with at least 60 more Pokeballs provided by the Battle Factory," Kishon explained, "and then, they'll mix everything up, and provide you with 6 random Pokemon. You can 'rent' out two Pokemon, and then you'll enter battle. See that guy over there?"

He pointed to the battlefield, where a competitor was standing with a Charmeleon and a Bellossom. "If I were to beat this guy right now, I can choose to exchange one of my current Pokemon," and he gestured to the Pokeballs in his hand, "with one of _his_ current Pokemon. We can do this exchange for all the battles, and if we get through the third battle, then we'll win."

I nodded as the announcer boomed, "Alright! Who will go first in your group?"

"We're releasing the Pokemon first," Kishon said, as the Pokeballs rolled back into the machine. "On the count of three!"

"1..."

"2..."

"...3!"

At once, my eyes were brutally assaulted by a strong red light. Then I saw 6 completely different Pokemon standing before the three trainers.

Kishon had an Ursaring and an Ariados before him. "They seemed the best I could choose from, somehow," he muttered, sighing.

Kimberly smiled as she released her Pokemon – a Beautifly and a Marshtomp. "They're both so cute!" she grinned at the two male Pokemon. Beautifly looked mildly flattered, while the Marshtomp scowled.

Daisy released her Pokemon – Kishon's Ralts, Cerine popped out, and another Ludicolo, who started to dance around the frightened Ralts. "I thought you might appreciate me taking Cerine for you," Daisy stated, smiling.

"Anyway..." Kishon started, looking at the opponent, "Kimberly seems the most fit for this battle, so we'll just let her go. We won't go because we all need to fight at least once; we'll type-match for this round."

Daisy frowned. "Aw, but we all need to have a go!"

"And look what that brought you. You guys were with Lila Nola Patch for the whole afternoon until she decided to go as an individual." Kishon crossed his arms impatiently. "And she won without you two."

"But now you're with us!" Daisy retorted, but we were silenced by one very happy Charizard skipping his way over, armed with what seemed like a Mount Everest of cotton candy. What made everything worse was how Skittles and St. Sitrus were literally coated with the cotton candy. Skittles resembled a pink cloud, with the cotton candy engulfing her entire body like a body armour, while St. Sitrus was not only wearing cotton candy on his body, but he also carried several stuffed toys and more candy. He carefully handed me the stuffed toys, plucked some cotton candy off his body, and offered the pink clump to me.

"Um..." I looked at his genuinely sincere, happy eyes and sighed. "Okay. You have too many stuffed toys; I can't even take the cotton candy because my hands are full!"

St. Sitrus beamed and nearly choked me to death by stuffing the cotton candy into my mouth, taking me by surprise, and causing Kishon to grin. I chewed on it and tried not to glare with St. Sitrus beaming in my face proudly.

DING! DING! "Oh, what a shame, Kimberly is down and out!" the announcer shouted.

"...what the f-" I glared at him before he could swear in front of St. Sitrus, "-earow was _THAT _all about?" Kishon roared, as Kimberly skipped down.

"She lost, but it was a fantastic fight though!" Daisy commended, and Kimberly blushed modestly.

"What fight? One moment they started...and the next moment, Kimberly's here and the announcer just said we've lost!" Kishon spat out, horrified. "Why, if you chose Gair-!"

"Who is _not cute_!" Kimberly cut him.

"-he would've destroyed, _annihilated_ those two Pokemon all by _himself_!" Kishon continued, as the announcer's helper returned them their Pokeballs. Gairbith and Cerine returned to his side, with the Garchomp looking quite annoyed.

"Well, _he wasn't cute_!" Kimberly argued back.

"Heyo, guys! Did you guys try the cotton candy? It's _heaven_!" Jayden chirped in, unaware of the argument. Aeleus walked towards us calmly, and I realised that it was already 8pm.

"I've heard of this sort of challenge," Aeleus remarked, looking at the machine. "The actual Battle Frontier for trainers includes this challenge, but you won't even have your Pokemon to choose from."

Jayden eyed the machine suspiciously. "Well...it doesn't seem very safe, but oh well. Let's give it a go!" She pulled out her Pokeballs and returned Chikyu and Seishin to their Pokeballs. Turning to the helper, Jayden announced, "We're entering! Charis, Aeleus, and me!"

As Aeleus returned Swirls and Minerva to their Pokeballs as well, I looked at St. Sitrus apologetically. "Sorry, Saint, you can't have a Pokeball. But at least you can watch!" The Heracross nodded understandingly and I returned Firaga and a now cotton candy-free Skittles to their Pokeballs. We all dropped our Pokeballs in together, and I awaited the 6 Pokeballs to choose from.

"Here you go!" the helper smiled at us as the machine churned out 3 stacks of Pokeballs. I realised that upon closer inspection, I could feel what Pokemon was in the ball. I saw a familiar Ivysaur and smiled at him. Then I looked at the others and picked the Starmie. "I'm done choosin-"

"YEEEEEEES!" Jayden squealed, picking up a Pokeball. "Charis, I got Firaga, I got Firaga!" I could almost sense his extreme displeasure as Jayden purposely tucked the Pokeball underneath her armpit, and continued to look around.

Aeleus looked at the Pokeballs and sighed. "I don't see any familiar faces..." he mumbled. "Okay, what did you guys pick?"

I released Jayden's Chikyu and the Starmie. "Chikyu and Starmie," I replied. Chikyu gave me a reassuring smile.

Jayden released a very unhappy Firaga and a bouncing Grumpig. "These are mine!" she gestured, and yelped as Firaga lunged for her arm.

Aeleus nodded to himself and picked through the Pokeballs. "Okay then, I'll go with...these two," he said, and released a Muk and Honchkrow.

"Fantastic!" the announcer chirped, as our first competitor stepped up, with two Pokemon – a Bibarel and an Umbreon. We all looked at our Pokemon, and after a moment all turned to look at me.

"...fine, I'll go, I'll go!" I snapped as I grouchily got up. Chikyu and Starmie already got themselves acquainted and they were both ready to go.

"Ready? Let's go!"

DING DING!

"Chikyu, Razor Leaf at both of them! Starmie, Bubblebeam! Keep them at length!" I commanded.

The man before us seemed excited. "Come on, Umbreon, Dark Pulse! And Bibarel, use Hydro Pump and destroy all those useless attacks!"

Umbreon threw his head back and widened his eyes, releasing a ball of aura containing dark thoughts. I could've sworn I heard Jayden mutter "Expecto Patronum" under her breath. "Starmie, Hydro Pump! Chikyu, reach for the Bibarel with Vine Whip!"

Chikyu dodged Bibarel's Hydro Pump and quickly retaliated with her vines reaching out for the Bibarel. She grabbed the Pokemon firmly and repeatedly slammed him on the ground. Bibarel responded with an instinctive bite on the vines which caused Chikyu to flinch.

"Razor Leaf!" I quickly commanded, as I watched Dark Pulse and Hydro Pump connect and dissipate immediately. Starmie, on its own, launched an Ice Beam that froze the Umbreon to his spot. As Chikyu's Razor Leaf swerved towards the opponents, Bibarel tried to dodge it to no avail, getting knocked out in the process, while the Umbreon braved the cold and the leaves slashing at him.

"Now, Starmie, Water Pulse!" I quickly commanded as Starmie blasted at the Umbreon, knocking him out as well, much to the man's dismay.

I looked over at Kishon and beamed when I saw his face.

"Alrightttt then! Do you want to rent out one of his Pokemon?" the announcer asked, and looking at Starmie, I shook my head. I walked down to Aeleus, who gave me a thumbs-up, and Jayden, who shoved me slightly to hug Chikyu. "Aw, Chikyu, you're the best!"

"Next up!" A Roserade and a Bastiodon stepped up, with a mean-looking punk with a purple mohawk grinned at us and winked.

"Which lady's gonna court me?" he asked slyly, wriggling his eyebrows at me and that was all it took for Firaga to drag Jayden and the Grumpig up, eager to kill. He glowered at the man, who simply laughed. "Ooh, so if you lose, Charizard, I'm not only going to rent you out, I'm _also _going to go ask your trainer out!" he taunted. Firaga had never looked so insulted. He flexed his claws and snarled. Even the Grumpig looked wary.

Jayden was jumping up and down. "Alright, let's do this for Charis, Firaga!" Jayden cheered excitedly, and Firaga nodded vigorously.

Kishon nudged me. "I think you'll be single for a _looong _time, Charis," he teased.

"Oh, shut up and watch!" I retorted.

DING DING!

The match started. When the bell rang, Jayden just sat down. "Grumpig, just use Psychic on Roserade over and over again!" she commanded, as she plopped down. "Firaga, do your thing!"

Before the punk could even react, Firaga reared his head back and blasted Overheat, aiming it at Roserade briefly, before hitting the Bastiodon.

"Bastiodon, use Iron Head!" the punk shouted, as Jayden smirked, with Roserade slowly sinking to the ground, still smoking from the Overheat and unable to fight anymore.

The Bastiodon charged at Firaga, his large head gleaming, and Firaga leaned forward, arms reaching out as though to embrace the foe. Instead, as Iron Head connected, Firaga struggled to fight back, grappling at the rough edges of his head. I realised what Firaga was going to perform as the Charizard wrestled the Bastiodon, growling and snarling.

"Bastiodon, move back and catch the Charizard off-guard!" the punk commanded, and in a split second, the Bastiodon retreated back, causing Firaga to stumble. However, Firaga still had his hold on the Bastiodon. Huffing, the Charizard swung his large wings outwards and flew vertically up, with the Bastiodon twisting his head and trying to pry himself loose. He succeeded, but he was quite a distance above the battlefield, which was alright for Firaga, who suddenly plummeted after the Bastiodon for a Seismic Toss. They did a nose dive together to the ground, fighting each other, until they crashed onto the ground, with Firaga triumphantly sitting on top.

"One more battle to go!" Jayden cheered, as she leapt down to greet us. Firaga jabbed his claws at the punk for a moment, before coming over with a pleased smile on his face.

Aeleus nodded and we waited for our next opponent – a young girl with Seishin and a Golduck.

"Yo, Seishin!" Jayden called, waving at her Kirlia, "don't let the girl down, okay! Put up a good fight!"

The Kirlia nodded gently, and gave the young girl a bright smile. It seemed as though the girl wasn't old enough to own two Pokemon; she looked as though she was girl smiled kindly at Jayden, and then patted Seishin.

"Thanks for that, Jayden," Aeleus mumbled as we both nudged him towards the battlefield. "Um...hi! I'm Aeleus!" he called out to the girl, who nodded politely.

"I'm Tania," she replied shyly. Aeleus gave her a friendly grin.

"So," he started, smiling at her as though he was an older brother, "what brings you here at night? Don't you have school tomorrow?"

Tania nodded her head, but she explained, "I'm...not very good at Pokemon...so Mummy thought I should try this! It's free and if I try, I may win something." She looked at Aeleus and smiled. "My Pokemon is a Togepi."

"That's nice," Aeleus replied, as the announcer came up to them, ready to begin the match. "Do your best, Tania! I won't be going so easy on you!"

Tania nodded, as the bell sounded.

DING DING!

"S-Seishin, is that it? Use Psychic on that Honchkrow!" Tania commanded weakly, and even though Seishin knew it would have no effect, she did it for the young girl. Summoning her energy, the Kirlia attempted to take down Honchkrow, to no avail, naturally.

"Tania!" Jayden shouted, "Psychic attacks don't have any effect on Dark types!"

"O-Oh!" she furrowed her eyebrows and Aeleus smiled.

"Honchkrow, use Night Slash on Seishin!" The Honchkrow nodded and swiftly flew towards Seishin, his talons stretched and glowing with dark energy. He slashed at the Kirlia, sending the poor Kirlia backwards. Tania gulped. She looked at her Golduck, who nodded at her reassuringly, and then she stood up a little straighter. "Golduck, use Surf!"

"Poor Seishin..." Jayden mumbled, as the Golduck built his wave as he churned out water from his beak, before riding the waves to crash onto all the Pokemon in the battlefield, including Seishin, who was too weak to continue, with the Surf and the super-effective Night Slash.

"My turn again," Aeleus said with a smile. "Muk, use Pound on the Golduck."

"Muuuuk!" the Muk crawled towards the Golduck at an alarmingly fast speed, launched himself up and slammed onto the poor Golduck, as purple sludge dripped all over the Pokemon. Golduck winced, as he found himself poisoned by the sludge that seeped into his skin.

"Ah! Golduck!" she cried out, frowning.

"Your turn, Tania," Aeleus graciously let her go first.

"Um...uh...Golduck, can you use Ice Beam?" she asked, and the Pokemon nodded, panting out of exhaustion. "Great! Use Ice Beam on the Honchkrow!"

"Good move, but like what teachers have been saying for the past 10 years of my education, it's not enough," Aeleus noted. "Honchkrow, dodge it and use Night Slash again!"

The Honchkrow nodded and easily dodged the otherwise lethal Ice Beam, and then delivered his final attack on the Golduck, who out of exhaustion collapsed and fainted.

Tania looked at her Golduck and Seishin sadly. Jayden got up the stage and followed Aeleus to Tania and the two fallen Pokemon. "Aw, Seishin, you did well." Jayden handed her a Sitrus berry which no doubt came from the saint of Sitrus berries himself. St. Sitrus got up the stage as well, and handed the girl a whole load of berries, patting her head affectionately.

I looked at the young girl. "You'll do great in school," I told her, "and I mean what I say."

"T-Thank you, all of you!" Tania said, giving us a quick bow. "My mum's waiting for me, see you later!"

With a wave, and even a brief hug for Aeleus and her rental Pokemon, she hurried off to an older woman's arms, presumably her mum. We all watched before Jayden turned to Aeleus, a sly grin on her face. "Aw, Aeleus, you'd make a great dad!" she remarked, nudging him playfully with her elbow. "I heard Charis wanted to be a mum some day!"

"Hm, we'd make interesting babies," Aeleus remarked, and they both gave me equally stupid grins. Firaga, who was now in my possession, gave Aeleus a glance head to toe and scoffed.

"Yeah, yeah, save that talk for next time, okay?" I quickly changed the subject. "Aeleus, did you find a Pokemon Centre?"

Aeleus shook his head. "No, not really. Doesn't seem like it."

We all let that fact absorb first, before we realised what it meant.

_CAMP._

* * *

**Chapter Number 20. Wow. **

**This chapter seemed a bit...lacking. I don't know. And it's the twentieth chapter. **

**Anyway, I'm still willing to publish any specials you guys want to write. Or even help out in a fanfic if you want to write an entirely new one. I'll be willing to help whenever I can.**

**I'm also going to publish an interesting chapter when I'm done with it. Interesting in the humorous, familiar sense I guess.**

**And I've been thinking of doing a realistic Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, 10 years from when this story begins. It'll feature Firaga and I already have a chapter waiting to be finished, but I just need feedback on whether or not people would read it.**

**And...um, well, that's pretty much it.**


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